Method and apparatus for optimized ofdma subcarrier allocation

ABSTRACT

A method of OFDMA subcarrier allocation for stations in a wireless network includes determining a total downlink buffered traffic load for downlink traffic from a gateway device to the stations, and receiving a total uplink buffered traffic load for uplink traffic from the stations to the gateway device. The method further includes determining a first ratio of total downlink buffered traffic load for each station in relation to total downlink buffered traffic load for all stations, determining a second ratio of total uplink buffered traffic load for each station in relation to total uplink buffered traffic load for all stations, performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the downlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional to the first ratio for each station, and performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional to the second ratio for each station.

BACKGROUND

In order to address exhaustion of the available spectrum capacity in the5 GHz band, unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band (5.925 GHz-7.125 GHz) forWi-Fi has been approved by the FCC in April 2020. Opening up acontiguous 1200 MHz chunk of spectrum above the 5 GHz band will enable asubstantial amount of new bandwidth over multiple wideband channels.Introduction of the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi use will provide enoughspectrum to safely deploy 80 MHz and 160 MHz wide channels, with highthroughput rates (higher data speeds, lower latency) and congestion-freenetwork access with less interference from legacy devices. The 6 GHzband will accommodate up to 14 additional 80 MHz channels and 7additional 160 MHz channels.

Residential Wi-Fi networks are now being built with Access Points (APs)that support IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) high efficiency standard. Thiswireless communications protocol applies to residential gateways (RGs)and wireless extenders that provide Internet access and other servicesto client stations in a local area network (LAN). 802.11ax introducesOrthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), which allowsmultiple clients to concurrently share transmit/receive opportunitiesvia individual subcarrier allocation of a given channel bandwidth. Thispromises to provide considerable benefit to Wi-Fi network throughput,particularly relative to the inefficiencies of having each clientcompete for transmit opportunities via Carrier Sense Multiple Access(CSMA).

Wireless devices that are capable of 6 GHz operation (Wi-Fi over 6 GHzradios) are referred to as Wi-Fi 6E devices, and will provide thebenefits of the IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) standard (higher performance interms of faster data rates and lower latency) in the 6 GHz band. Wi-Fi6E devices can make use of the wider channels and additional capacity toprovide better performance and support denser deployments. Thus, Wi-Fi6E devices will be able to provide clean uncongested bandwidth andenable multi-gigabit data speeds. The 6 GHz Wi-Fi technology allows newhigh bandwidth, low latency, and high quality-of-service (QoS) servicesto be built on it. Developing technology for Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz bandwill be essential for residential multi-access point and mesh network,multiple dwelling unit (MDU) single-access point networks, high-densityenterprise networks, indoor public venues, industrial Internet of Things(IoT), etc.

The choice of OFDMA subcarrier allocation to clients is not specified bythe IEEE 802.11ax standard, but rather is left to vendors to determinehow they will implement the allocation of channel bandwidth. This hasled device manufacturers to consider what varying levels of flexibilitymay be needed for OFDMA subcarrier allocation in gateways, APs,extenders, and the like.

In a residential gateway, AP, extender, etc., 6 GHz radios could be usedas both a Wide Area Network (WAN) interface and a local area network(LAN) interface. Typically, the physical WAN interface is a differenttechnology from the physical LAN interface. Common WAN interfacesinclude DOCSIS over coax, xDSL, fiber, and LTE, for example. These areinterfaces to the service provider network that user equipment (e.g.,phones, laptops, set-top boxes, etc.) do not usually have. Common LANinterfaces include Ethernet and Wi-Fi, with one or both interfaces beingcommonly supported in the user equipment. Thus, physically separateinterfaces between the WAN and the LAN are required in the existingrelated technology (with the exception of Ethernet, which is common asboth a WAN and LAN technology). An Ethernet WAN is often used when therouter is connected to another access device, such as a DSL modem, cablemodem, or ONT, for example.

Until recently, the LAN interface speeds have not been fast enough tohandle both WAN traffic and LAN traffic simultaneously. With theanticipated availability of the 6 GHz spectrum for Wi-Fi and the higherspeeds supported by IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E), as well as 10G Ethernetnow starting to be considered as a LAN interface, these interfaces arebecoming fast enough to support both LAN traffic and WAN traffic at thesame time. A main attraction of the 6 GHz spectrum is that it is newclean spectrum without very much interference to reduce throughput (atleast not until widely implemented after some time), and there is a lotof bandwidth available as compared to the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz spectrums.However, implementing an RG, AP, or wireless extender with a first 6 GHzWi-Fi radio for the WAN interface and a second 6 GHz Wi-Fi radio for theLAN interface is expensive. Accordingly, it would be desirable todevelop a solution in which a single 6 GHz Wi-Fi radio can be used asboth the WAN interface and the LAN interface.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure provide novel solutions for enabling anetwork gateway device to implement a flexible OFDMA subcarrierallocation solution. The gateway device may also be referred togenerally as a Wi-Fi access point or AP herein, and the solutions mayapply similarly to wireless extenders and other wireless networkingdevices of this type. The gateway device includes a single physicalWi-Fi radio configured with two separate virtual interfaces (or logicalinterfaces) for WAN traffic and LAN traffic, respectively. The singleWi-Fi AP and 6 GHz radio is configured to serve both Local Area Network(LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) 6 GHz backhaul needs. In addition, thegateway device provides support for routing functionality (e.g.,firewall, network address translation (NAT), etc.) to be applied betweenWAN and LAN traffic associated with the 6 GHz AP.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides gateway device capable oforthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) subcarrierallocation for stations in a wireless network. The gateway deviceincludes a memory storing instructions, and a processor configured toexecute the one or more programs to establish wireless backhaulconnections with a wide area network backhaul station (WAN BSTA) and oneor more local area network backhaul stations (LAN BSTAs), among thestations in the wireless network. The processor may be configured todetermine a total downlink buffered traffic load for downlink trafficfrom the gateway device to each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LANBSTAs, respectively, and receive, from the WAN B STA and the one or moreLAN B STAs, a total uplink buffered traffic load for uplink traffic fromeach of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, to thegateway device. The processor may also be configured to determine afirst ratio of the total downlink buffered traffic load for each of theWAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relation to atotal downlink buffered traffic load for all of the stations in thewireless network, and determine a second ratio of the total uplinkbuffered traffic load for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LANBSTAs, respectively, in relation to a total uplink buffered traffic loadfor all of the stations in the wireless network. The processor may alsobe configured to perform OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the downlinktraffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional to thefirst ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, and perform OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplinktraffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional to thesecond ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively.

In an aspect of the present disclosure, the processor may be furtherconfigured to determine an access category (AC) of a highest prioritydownlink traffic remaining at the gateway device for transmission toeach of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, andreceive, from the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, an accesscategory (AC) of a highest priority uplink traffic remaining at each ofthe WAN B STA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, fortransmission to the gateway device, and an uplink buffered traffic loadfor the highest priority uplink traffic. The processor may be furtherconfigured to determine a downlink AC scale factor corresponding to theAC of the highest priority downlink traffic for each of the WAN BSTA andthe one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, and determine an uplink ACscale factor corresponding to the AC of the highest priority uplinktraffic for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively. The processor may be further configured to determine athird ratio of the total downlink buffered traffic load for each of theWAN B STA and the one or more LAN BSTAs multiplied by the downlink ACscale factor for the highest priority downlink traffic for each of theWAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relation to anaggregate of prior downlink buffered traffic load values for all of thestations in the wireless network, and determine a fourth ratio of thetotal uplink buffered traffic load for each of the WAN BSTA and the oneor more LAN BSTAs, plus the uplink buffered traffic load for the highestpriority uplink traffic multiplied by the uplink AC scale factor of eachof the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relationto an aggregate of prior uplink buffered traffic load values for all ofthe stations in the wireless network. The processor may be furtherconfigured to perform the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the downlinktraffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional to thethird ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, and perform the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplinktraffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional to thefourth ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively.

In an aspect of the present disclosure, the processor may be furtherconfigured to establish a wireless fronthaul connection with one or moreLAN side client stations (LAN client STAs), among the stations in thewireless network. The processor may be further configured to determine atotal downlink buffered traffic load for downlink traffic from thegateway device to each of the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively,and receive, from the one or more LAN client STAs, a total uplinkbuffered traffic load for uplink traffic from each of the one or moreLAN client STAs, respectively, to the gateway device. The processor maybe further configured to determine a modulation and coding scheme (MCS)scale factor for each of the one or more LAN client STAs, the MCS scalefactor being a ratio of MCS that is required by each of the one or moreLAN client STAs in relation to a base MCS representing a min-range linkquality, respectively. The processor may be further configured todetermine a fifth ratio of the total downlink buffered traffic load forthe WAN B STA, plus the total downlink buffered traffic load of the oneor more LAN BSTAs, plus the total downlink buffered traffic load of theone or more LAN client STAs multiplied by the MCS scaling factor of eachof the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, in relation to anaggregate of prior downlink buffered traffic load values for all of thestations in the wireless network, and determine a sixth ratio of thetotal uplink buffered traffic load for the WAN BSTA, the total uplinkbuffered traffic load for the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the totaluplink buffered traffic load for the one or more LAN client STAsmultiplied by the MCS scaling factor of each of the one or more LANclient STAs, respectively, in relation to an aggregate of prior uplinkbuffered traffic load values for all of the stations in the wirelessnetwork. The processor may be further configured to perform the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the downlink traffic by assigning availablechannel bandwidth proportional to the fifth ratio for each of the WANBSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LAN client STAs,respectively, and perform the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplinktraffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional to thesixth ratio for each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and theone or more LAN client STAs, respectively.

In an aspect of the present disclosure, the processor may be furtherconfigured to determine an access category (AC) of a highest prioritydownlink traffic remaining at the gateway device for transmission toeach of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, andreceive, from the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, an accesscategory (AC) of a highest priority uplink traffic remaining at each ofthe WAN B STA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, fortransmission to the gateway device, and an uplink buffered traffic loadfor the highest priority uplink traffic. The processor may be furtherconfigured to establish a wireless fronthaul connection with one or moreLAN side client stations (LAN client STAs), among the stations in thewireless network. The processor may be further configured to determine atotal downlink buffered traffic load for downlink traffic from thegateway device to each of the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively,and an AC of a highest priority downlink traffic remaining at thegateway device for transmission to each of the LAN client STAs,respectively, and receive, from the one or more LAN client STAs, a totaluplink buffered traffic load for uplink traffic from each of the one ormore LAN client STAs, respectively, to the gateway device, and an AC ofa highest priority uplink traffic remaining at each of the one or moreLAN client STAs, respectively, for transmission to the gateway device,and an uplink buffered traffic load for the highest priority uplinktraffic. The processor may be further configured to determine a downlinkAC scale factor corresponding to the AC of the highest priority downlinktraffic for each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the oneor more LAN client STAs, respectively, and determine an uplink AC scalefactor corresponding to the AC of the highest priority uplink trafficfor each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or moreLAN client STAs, respectively. The processor may be further configuredto determine a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) scale factor for eachof the one or more LAN client STAs, the MCS scale factor being a ratioof MCS that is required by each of the one or more LAN client STAs inrelation to a base MCS representing a min-range link quality,respectively. The processor may be further configured to perform theOFDMA subcarrier allocation for the downlink traffic based on the totaldownlink buffered traffic load and the downlink AC scale factor for eachof the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LANclient STAs, respectively, and further based on the MCS scale factor foreach of the one or more LAN client STAs, and perform the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic based on the total uplinkbuffered traffic load and the uplink AC scale factor for each of the WANBSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LAN client STAs,respectively, and further based on the MCS scale factor for each of theone or more LAN client STAs.

In an aspect of the present disclosure, the processor may be configuredto perform the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the downlink traffic andthe uplink traffic by referring to a table stored in the memory of thegateway device, wherein the table indicates a maximum number of resourceunits (RUs) for each channel width, selecting a closest set of RUs fromthe table for the downlink traffic based on the first ratio of the totaldownlink buffered traffic load for each of the stations, respectively,and selecting a closest set of RUs from the table for the uplink trafficbased on the second ratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load foreach of the stations, respectively.

In an aspect of the present disclosure, the processor may be furtherconfigured to periodically or dynamically determine an updated bufferstatus for the downlink traffic for the stations, and periodically ordynamically receive, from the stations, an updated buffer status for theuplink traffic for the gateway device. The processor may be furtherconfigured to determine an updated ratio of the total downlink bufferedtraffic load for each of the stations, determine an updated ratio of thetotal uplink buffered traffic load for each of the stations, performOFDMA subcarrier allocation for the downlink traffic by reallocating RUsof the available channel bandwidth based on the updated ratio of thetotal downlink buffered traffic load for each of the stations, andperform OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic byreallocating RUs of the available channel bandwidth based on the updatedratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load for each of thestations.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of orthogonalfrequency multiple access (OFDMA) subcarrier allocation for stations ina wireless network. The method may include establishing, by a gatewaydevice, wireless backhaul connections with a wide area network backhaulstation (WAN BSTA) and one or more local area network backhaul stations(LAN BSTAs), among the stations in the wireless network. The method mayalso include determining a total downlink buffered traffic load fordownlink traffic from the gateway device to each of the WAN BSTA and theone or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, and receiving, from the WAN B STAand the one or more LAN B STAs, a total uplink buffered traffic load foruplink traffic from each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, to the gateway device. The method may also includedetermining a first ratio of the total downlink buffered traffic loadfor each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, inrelation to a total downlink buffered traffic load for all of thestations in the wireless network, and determining a second ratio of thetotal uplink buffered traffic load for each of the WAN B STA and the oneor more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relation to a total uplink bufferedtraffic load for all of the stations in the wireless network. The methodmay also include performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the downlinktraffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional to thefirst ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, and performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplinktraffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional to thesecond ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media storing instructions for orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access (OFDMA) subcarrier allocation for stations in awireless network. The instructions when executed by a processor of thegateway device described above cause the gateway device to performoperations including the steps of the method described above.

The above-described method and computer-readable medium may beimplemented in a residential gateway (RG) or other home network gatewaydevice according to some example embodiments. However, some otherexample embodiments are not limited thereto, and the method andcomputer-readable medium may be implemented by a wireless extender, or aWi-Fi access point (AP), or other similar electronic devices that enablewireless networking.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical,functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram illustrating various componentsof an exemplary gateway device, client device, and wireless extenderimplemented in the system of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram illustrating certain componentsof an exemplary gateway device and an exemplary wide area networkadaptor implemented in the system of FIG. 1 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a 6 GHz Backhaulconnection of a gateway device with a wireless extender and a WANadaptor, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a method for optimized OFDMAsubcarrier allocation according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for optimized OFDMAsubcarrier allocation according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method for optimized OFDMAsubcarrier allocation according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for optimized OFDMAsubcarrier allocation according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is made with reference to theaccompanying drawings and is provided to assist in a comprehensiveunderstanding of various example embodiments of the present disclosure.The following description includes various details to assist in thatunderstanding, but these are to be regarded merely as examples and notfor the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by theappended claims and their equivalents. The words and phrases used in thefollowing description are merely used to enable a clear and consistentunderstanding of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions ofwell-known structures, functions, and configurations may be omitted forclarity and conciseness. Those of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that various changes and modifications of the examplesdescribed herein can be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

It should be appreciated that various example embodiments of inventiveconcepts disclosed herein are not limited to specific numbers orcombinations of devices, and there may be one or multiple of some of theaforementioned electronic apparatuses in the system, which may itselfconsist of multiple communication networks and various known or futuredeveloped wireless connectivity technologies, protocols, devices, andthe like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the main elements of the system include a gatewaydevice 2 connected to the Internet 6 via an Internet Service Provider(ISP) 1 and a wide area network (WAN) adaptor 5, and also connected todifferent wireless devices such as wireless extenders 3 and clientdevices 4. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes wireless devices (e.g.,wireless extenders 3 and client devices 4) that may be connected in oneor more wireless networks (e.g., private, guest, iControl, backhaulnetwork, or Internet of things (IoT) network) within the system.Additionally, there could be some overlap between wireless devices(e.g., wireless extenders 3 and client devices 4) in the differentnetworks. That is, one or more network devices could be located in morethan one network. For example, the wireless extenders 3 could be locatedboth in a private network for providing content and information to aclient device 4 and also included in a backhaul network or an iControlnetwork.

Starting from the top of FIG. 1, the ISP 1 can be, for example, astreaming video provider or any computer for connecting the gatewaydevice 2 to the Internet 6. The ISP 1 may have various hardwarecomponents associated therewith, including but not limited to a fileserver 12, an optical line terminal (OLT) 15, and an optical networkterminal (ONT) 16.

The connection 14 between the Internet 6 and the ISP 1 can beimplemented using a wide area network (WAN), a virtual private network(VPN), metropolitan area networks (MANs), system area networks (SANs), aDOCSIS network, a fiber optics network (e.g., FTTH (fiber to the home)or FTTX (fiber to the x), or hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC)), a digitalsubscriber line (DSL), a public switched data network (PSDN), a globalTelex network, or a 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G network, for example.

The wide area network (WAN) adaptor 5 can be a hardware electronicdevice that provides an interface between the Internet 6 via the ISP 1,and the gateway device 2. The WAN adaptor 5 may include variouscomponents, including but not limited to an input/output (I/O) port 501(wired connection interface) such as an Ethernet port, or cable port, afiber optic port, or the like, and a 6 GHz radio 506 (wirelessconnection interface). The WAN adaptor 5 “adapts” the 6 GHz interface toan interface supported by the ISP-provided WAN access device (e.g., aconnection 13, such as Ethernet, to the ONT 16). Thus, the WAN adaptor 5serves as a “6 GHz to Ethernet Bridge” connecting the gateway device 2to the Internet 6, according to example embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Other types of WAN access devices include a DOCSIS modem, aDSL modem, and a fixed wireless modem. In some example embodiments, theWAN adaptor 5 may be a separate device that sits in between anISP-provided modem, modem/router combination or the like, and thegateway device 2.

The connection 13 between the ISP 1 (e.g., via the ONT 16) and the WANadaptor 5 can be implemented using a wide area network (WAN), a virtualprivate network (VPN), metropolitan area networks (MANs), system areanetworks (SANs), a DOCSIS network, a fiber optics network (e.g., FTTH(fiber to the home) or FTTX (fiber to the x), or hybrid fiber-coaxial(HFC)), a digital subscriber line (DSL), a public switched data network(PSDN), a global Telex network, or a 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G network, forexample. The connection 13 can further include as some portion thereof abroadband mobile phone network connection, an optical networkconnection, or other similar connections. For example, the connection 13can also be implemented using a fixed wireless connection that operatesin accordance with, but is not limited to, 3rd Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 5G protocols. It is alsocontemplated by the present disclosure that connection 13 between theWAN adaptor 5 and the ISP 1 is capable of providing connections betweenthe gateway device 2 and a WAN, a LAN, a VPN, MANs, PANs, WLANs, SANs, aDOCSIS network, a fiber optics network (e.g., FTTH, FTTX, or HFC), aPSDN, a global Telex network, or a 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G network, forexample.

The gateway device 2 can be, for example, a hardware electronic devicethat may be a combination modem and network gateway device that combinesthe functions of a modem, an access point (AP), and/or a router forproviding content received from the ISP 1 to network devices (e.g.,wireless extenders 3 and client devices 4) in the system. It is alsocontemplated by the present disclosure that the gateway device 2 caninclude the function of, but is not limited to, an InternetProtocol/Quadrature Amplitude Modulator (IP/QAM) set-top box (STB) orsmart media device (SMD) that is capable of decoding audio/videocontent, and playing over-the-top (OTT) or multiple system operator(MSO) provided content. The gateway device 2 may also be referred to asa residential gateway (RG), a broadband access gateway, a home networkgateway, a home router, or a wireless access point (AP).

The gateway device 2 can include one or more wired interfaces (e.g., anEthernet port, a cable port, a fiber optic port, or the like) andmultiple wireless interfaces, including but not limited to a 2.4 GHzradio 204, a 5 GHz radio 205, and a 6 GHz radio 206.

The connection 7 between the gateway device 2 and the WAN adaptor 5 andthe connection 8 between the gateway device 2 and the wireless extenders3 are implemented through a wireless connection that operates inaccordance with any IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi protocols, Bluetooth protocols,Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), or other short range protocols that operatein accordance with a wireless technology standard for exchanging dataover short distances using any licensed or unlicensed band such as theCBRS band, 2.4 GHz bands, 5 GHz bands, 6 GHz bands, or 60 GHz bands. Oneor more of the connection 7 and/or the connection 8 can also be a wiredEthernet connection.

The connection 7 between the gateway device 2 and the WAN adaptor 5 maybe implemented via the 6 GHz radio 206 of the gateway device 2 and the 6GHz radio 506 of the WAN adaptor 5, for example. The connection 7enables the gateway device 2 and the WAN adaptor 5 to establish adedicated 6 GHz wireless backhaul (6 GHz BH) according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure. However, the connection 7 couldalso be implemented using respective wired interfaces (e.g., Ethernet,cable, fiber optic, or the like) in some alternative exampleembodiments.

The connection 8 between the gateway device 2 and the wireless extenders3 can be implemented using the 6 GHz radio 206 of the gateway device 2and the 6 GHz radios 306 of the wireless extenders 3, for example. Theconnection 8 enables the gateway device 2 and the wireless extenders 3to establish a dedicated 6 GHz wireless backhaul (6 GHz BH) according toexample embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the connection 8could also be implemented using respective wired interfaces (e.g.,Ethernet, cable, fiber optic, or the like) in some alternative exampleembodiments.

The connection 9 between the gateway device 2, the wireless extenders 3,and client devices 4 can be implemented using a wireless connection inaccordance with any IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi protocols, Bluetooth protocols,Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), or other short range protocols that operatein accordance with a wireless technology standard for exchanging dataover short distances using any licensed or unlicensed band such as thecitizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band, 2.4 GHz bands, 5 GHzbands, 6 GHz bands, or 60 GHz bands. Additionally, the connection 9 canbe implemented using a wireless connection that operates in accordancewith, but is not limited to, RF4CE protocol, ZigBee protocol, Z-Waveprotocol, or IEEE 802.15.4 protocol. It is also contemplated by thepresent disclosure that the connection 9 can include connections to amedia over coax (MoCA) network. One or more of the connections 9 canalso be a wired Ethernet connection.

The wireless extenders 3 can be, for example, hardware electronicdevices such as access points (APs) used to extend the wireless networkby receiving the signals transmitted by the gateway device 2 andrebroadcasting the signals to, for example, client devices 4, which mayout of range of the gateway device 2. The wireless extenders 3 can alsoreceive signals from the client devices 4 and rebroadcast the signals tothe gateway device 2, or other client devices 4.

The connection 8 between respective wireless extenders 3 is implementedthrough a wireless connection that operates in accordance with any IEEE802.11 Wi-Fi protocols, Bluetooth protocols, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE),or other short range protocols that operate in accordance with awireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distancesusing any licensed or unlicensed band such as the CBRS band, 2.4 GHzbands, 5 GHz bands, 6 GHz bands, or 60 GHz bands. The connection 8 canalso be a wired Ethernet connection.

The connection 8 between respective wireless extenders 3 can beimplemented using the 6 GHz radio 306 of the wireless extenders 3, forexample. The connection 8 enables the wireless extenders 3 to establisha dedicated 6 GHz wireless backhaul (6 GHz BH) according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure. However, the connection 8 couldalso be implemented using respective wired interfaces (e.g., Ethernet,cable, fiber optic, or the like) in some alternative exampleembodiments.

The client devices 4 can be, for example, hand-held computing devices,personal computers, electronic tablets, smart phones, smart speakers,Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, iControl devices, portable musicplayers with smart capabilities capable of connecting to the Internet,cellular networks, and interconnecting with other devices via Wi-Fi andBluetooth, or other wireless hand-held consumer electronic devicescapable of executing and displaying content received through the gatewaydevice 2. Additionally, the client devices 4 can be a television (TV),an IP/QAM set-top box (STB) or a streaming media decoder (SMD) that iscapable of decoding audio/video content, and playing over OTT or MSOprovided content received through the gateway device 2.

The connection 10 between the gateway device 2 and the client device 4is implemented through a wireless connection that operates in accordancewith, but is not limited to, any IEEE 802.11 protocols. Additionally,the connection 10 between the gateway device 2 and the client device 4can also be implemented through a WAN, a LAN, a VPN, MANs, PANs, WLANs,SANs, a DOCSIS network, a fiber optics network (e.g., FTTH, FTTX, orHFC), a PSDN, a global Telex network, or a 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G network, forexample. The connection 10 can also be implemented using a wirelessconnection in accordance with Bluetooth protocols, Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE), or other short range protocols that operate in accordance with awireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distancesusing any licensed or unlicensed band such as the CBRS band, 2.4 GHzbands, 5 GHz bands, 6 GHz bands, or 60 GHz bands. One or more of theconnections 10 can also be a wired Ethernet connection.

The connection 10 between the client device 4 and the gateway device 2can be implemented using the 6 GHz radio 406 of the client device 4 andthe 6 GHz radio 206 of the gateway device 2, for example. The connection10 enables the gateway device 2 and the client device 4 to establish a 6GHz wireless fronthaul (6 GHz FH) according to example embodiments ofthe present disclosure. However, the connection 10 could also beimplemented using respective wired interfaces (e.g., Ethernet, cable,fiber optic, or the like) in some alternative example embodiments.

The connection 11 between the wireless extenders 3 and the clientdevices 4 is implemented through a wireless connection that operates inaccordance with any IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi protocols, Bluetooth protocols,Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), or other short range protocols that operatein accordance with a wireless technology standard for exchanging dataover short distances using any licensed or unlicensed band such as theCBRS band, 2.4 GHz bands, 5 GHz bands, 6 GHz bands, or 60 GHz bands.Additionally, the connection 11 can be implemented using a wirelessconnection that operates in accordance with, but is not limited to,RF4CE protocol, ZigBee protocol, Z-Wave protocol, or IEEE 802.15.4protocol. Also, one or more of the connections 11 can be a wiredEthernet connection.

The connection 11 between the wireless extenders 3 and the clientdevices 4 can be implemented using the 2.4 GHz radio 404 or the 5 GHzradio 405 of the client devices 4 and the 2.4 GHz radio 304 or the 5 GHzradio 305 of the wireless extenders 3, for example. The connection 11enables the wireless extenders 3 and the client devices 4 to establish a2.4 GHz wireless fronthaul or a 5 GHz wireless fronthaul, according toexample embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the connection11 could also be implemented using respective wired interfaces (e.g.,Ethernet, cable, fiber optic, or the like) in some alternative exampleembodiments.

A more detailed description of the exemplary internal components of thegateway device 2, the wireless extenders 3, the client devices 4, andthe WAN adaptor 5 shown in FIG. 1 will be provided in the discussion ofFIGS. 2 and 3. However, in general, it is contemplated by the presentdisclosure that the gateway device 2, the wireless extenders 3, theclient devices 4, and the WAN adaptor 5 include electronic components orelectronic computing devices operable to receive, transmit, process,store, and/or manage data and information associated with the system,which encompasses any suitable processing device adapted to performcomputing tasks consistent with the execution of computer-readableinstructions stored in a memory or a computer-readable recording medium(e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium).

Further, any, all, or some of the computing components in the gatewaydevice 2, the wireless extenders 3, the client devices 4, and the WANadaptor 5 may be adapted to execute any operating system, includingLinux, UNIX, Windows, MacOS, DOS, and ChromOS as well as virtualmachines adapted to virtualize execution of a particular operatingsystem, including customized and proprietary operating systems. Thegateway device 2, the wireless extenders 3, the client devices 4, andthe WAN adaptor 5 are further equipped with components to facilitatecommunication with other computing devices over the one or more networkconnections to local and wide area networks, wireless and wirednetworks, public and private networks, and any other communicationnetwork enabling communication in the system.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram illustrating various componentsof an exemplary gateway device, client device, and wireless extenderimplemented in the system of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

Although FIG. 2 only shows one wireless extender 3 and one client device4, the wireless extender 3 and the client device 4 shown in the figureare meant to be representative of the other wireless extenders 3 andclient devices 4 shown in FIG. 1. Similarly, the connections 8, 9, 10,and 11 between the gateway device 2, the wireless extender 3, and theclient device 4 shown in FIG. 2 are meant to be exemplary connectionsand are not meant to indicate all possible connections between thegateway devices 2, wireless extenders 3, and client devices 4.Additionally, it is contemplated by the present disclosure that thenumber of gateway devices 2, wireless extenders 3, and client devices 4is not limited to the number of gateway devices 2, wireless extenders 3,and client devices 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Now referring to FIG. 2 (e.g., from left to right), the client device 4can be, for example, a computer, a portable device, an electronictablet, an e-reader, a PDA, a smart phone, a smart speaker, an IoTdevice, an iControl device, portable music player with smartcapabilities capable of connecting to the Internet, cellular networks,and interconnecting with other devices via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, or otherwireless hand-held consumer electronic device capable of executing anddisplaying the content received through the gateway device 2.Additionally, the client device 4 can be a TV, an IP/QAM STB, or an SMDthat is capable of decoding audio/video content, and playing over OTT orMSO provided content received through the gateway device 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the client device 4 includes a user interface 40, anetwork interface 41, a power supply 42, a memory 44, and a controller46.

The user interface 40 includes, but is not limited to, push buttons, akeyboard, a keypad, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin filmtransistor (TFT), a light-emitting diode (LED), a high definition (HD)or other similar display device including a display device having touchscreen capabilities so as to allow interaction between a user and theclient device 4.

The network interface 41 can include, but is not limited to, variousnetwork cards, interfaces, and circuitry implemented in software and/orhardware to enable communications with the gateway device 2 and thewireless extender 3 using the communication protocols in accordance withconnections 9, 10, and/or 11 (e.g., as described with reference to FIG.1).

For example, the network interface 41 can include multiple radios (e.g.,a 2.4 GHz radio, one or more 5 GHz radios, and/or a 6 GHz radio), whichmay also be referred to as wireless local area network (WLAN)interfaces. The radios (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and/or 6 GHz radio(s))provide a fronthaul (FH) connection between the client device(s) 4 andthe gateway device 2 and/or the wireless extender 3.

The power supply 42 supplies power to the internal components of theclient device 4 through the internal bus 47. The power supply 42 can bea self-contained power source such as a battery pack with an interfaceto be powered through an electrical charger connected to an outlet(e.g., either directly or by way of another device). The power supply 42can also include a rechargeable battery that can be detached allowingfor replacement such as a nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel metal hydride(NiMH), a lithium-ion (Li-ion), or a lithium Polymer (Li-pol) battery.

The memory 44 includes a single memory or one or more memories or memorylocations that include, but are not limited to, a random access memory(RAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) a memory buffer, a harddrive, a database, an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a readonly memory (ROM), a flash memory, logic blocks of a field programmablegate array (FPGA), a hard disk or any other various layers of memoryhierarchy. The memory 44 can be used to store any type of instructions,software, or algorithms including software 45 for controlling thegeneral function and operations of the client device 4 in accordancewith the embodiments described in the present disclosure.

The controller 46 controls the general operations of the client device 4and includes, but is not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), ahardware microprocessor, a hardware processor, a multi-core processor, asingle core processor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), amicrocontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), adigital signal processor (DSP), or other similar processing devicecapable of executing any type of instructions, algorithms, or softwareincluding the software 45 for controlling the operation and functions ofthe client device 4 in accordance with the embodiments described in thepresent disclosure. Communication between the components (e.g., 40, 41,42, 44, 46) of the client device 4 may be established using an internalbus 47.

The wireless extender 3 can be, for example, a hardware electronicdevice such as an access point (AP) used to extend a wireless network byreceiving the signals transmitted by the gateway device 2 andrebroadcasting the signals to client devices 4, which may be out ofrange of the gateway device 2. The wireless extender 3 can also receivesignals from the client devices 4 and rebroadcast the signals to thegateway device 2, mobile device 5, or other client devices 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wireless extender 3 includes a user interface30, a network interface 31, a power supply 32, a memory 34, and acontroller 36.

The user interface 30 can include, but is not limited to, push buttons,a keyboard, a keypad, an LCD, a TFT, an LED, an HD or other similardisplay device including a display device having touch screencapabilities so as to allow interaction between a user and the wirelessextender 3.

The network interface 31 can include various network cards, interfaces,and circuitry implemented in software and/or hardware to enablecommunications with the client device 4 and the gateway device 2 usingthe communication protocols in accordance with connections 8, 9, and/or11 (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 1). For example, thenetwork interface 31 can include multiple radios or sets of radios(e.g., a 2.4 GHz radio, one or more 5 GHz radios, and/or a 6 GHz radio),which may also be referred to as wireless local area network (WLAN)interfaces. One radio or set of radios (e.g., 5 GHz and/or 6 GHzradio(s)) provides a backhaul (BH) connection between the wirelessextender 3 and the gateway device 2, and optionally other wirelessextender(s) 3. Another radio or set of radios (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz,and/or 6 GHz radio(s)) provides a fronthaul (FH) connection between thewireless extender 3 and one or more client device(s) 4.

The power supply 32 supplies power to the internal components of thewireless extender 3 through the internal bus 37. The power supply 32 canbe connected to an electrical outlet (e.g., either directly or by way ofanother device) via a cable or wire.

The memory 34 can include a single memory or one or more memories ormemory locations that include, but are not limited to, a RAM, a DRAM, amemory buffer, a hard drive, a database, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a ROM, aflash memory, logic blocks of an FPGA, hard disk or any other variouslayers of memory hierarchy. The memory 34 can be used to store any typeof instructions, software, or algorithm including software 35 associatedwith controlling the general functions and operations of the wirelessextender 3 in accordance with the embodiments described in the presentdisclosure.

The controller 36 controls the general operations of the wirelessextender 3 and can include, but is not limited to, a CPU, a hardwaremicroprocessor, a hardware processor, a multi-core processor, a singlecore processor, an FPGA, a microcontroller, an ASIC, a DSP, or othersimilar processing device capable of executing any type of instructions,algorithms, or software including the software 35 for controlling theoperation and functions of the wireless extender 3 in accordance withthe embodiments described in the present disclosure. Generalcommunication between the components (e.g., 30, 31, 32, 34, 36) of thewireless extender 3 may be established using the internal bus 37.

The gateway device 2 can be, for example, a hardware electronic devicethat can combine the functions of a modem, an access point (AP), and/ora router for providing content received from the content provider (ISP)1 to network devices (e.g., wireless extenders 3, client devices 4) inthe system. It is also contemplated by the present disclosure that thegateway device 2 can include the function of, but is not limited to, anIP/QAM STB or SMD that is capable of decoding audio/video content, andplaying OTT or MSO provided content.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gateway device 2 includes a user interface 20, anetwork interface 21, a power supply 22, a wide area network (WAN)interface 23, a memory 24, and a controller 26.

The user interface 20 can include, but is not limited to, push buttons,a keyboard, a keypad, an LCD, a TFT, an LED, an HD or other similardisplay device including a display device having touch screencapabilities so as to allow interaction between a user and the gatewaydevice 2.

The network interface 21 may include various network cards, andcircuitry implemented in software and/or hardware to enablecommunications with the wireless extender 3 and the client device 4using the communication protocols in accordance with connections 8, 9,10, and/or 11 (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 1). Forexample, the network interface 21 can include an Ethernet port (alsoreferred to as a LAN interface) and multiple radios or sets of radios(e.g., a 2.4 GHz radio, one or more 5 GHz radios, and/or a 6 GHz radio,also referred to as WLAN interfaces). One radio or set of radios (e.g.,5 GHz and/or 6 GHz radio(s)) can provide a wireless backhaul (BH)connection between the gateway device 2 and the wireless extender(s) 3.Another radio or set of radios (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and/or 6 GHzradio(s)) can provide a fronthaul (FH) connection between the gatewaydevice 2 and one or more client device(s) 4.

The power supply 22 supplies power to the internal components of thegateway device 2 through the internal bus 27. The power supply 22 can beconnected to an electrical outlet (e.g., either directly or by way ofanother device) via a cable or wire.

The WAN interface 23 may include various network cards, and circuitryimplemented in software and/or hardware to enable communications betweenthe gateway device 2 and the Internet 6, via the ISP 1 and the WANadaptor 5, using the wired and/or wireless protocols in accordance withconnection 7 (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 1). For example,the WAN interface 23 can include an Ethernet port and one or more radios(e.g., a 6 GHz radio). The WAN interface 23 (e.g., 6 GHz radio) may beused to provide a wireless backhaul (BH) connection between the gatewaydevice 2 and the WAN adaptor 5 (e.g., as described with reference toFIG. 1, and further described with reference to FIG. 3 below), accordingto example embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the WANinterface 23 could provide a wired Ethernet connection (e.g., a BHconnection) between the gateway device 2 and the WAN adaptor 5 accordingto some alternative example embodiments.

The memory 24 includes a single memory or one or more memories or memorylocations that include, but are not limited to, a RAM, a DRAM, a memorybuffer, a hard drive, a database, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a ROM, a flashmemory, logic blocks of a FPGA, hard disk or any other various layers ofmemory hierarchy. The memory 24 can be used to store any type ofinstructions, software, or algorithm including software 25 forcontrolling the general functions and operations of the gateway device 2and performing management functions related to the other devices (e.g.,wireless extenders 3 and client devices 4) in the network in accordancewith the embodiments described in the present disclosure (e.g.,including a virtual interface function according to some exampleembodiments of the present disclosure).

The controller 26 controls the general operations of the gateway device2 as well as performs management functions related to the other devices(e.g., wireless extenders 3 and client device 4) in the network. Thecontroller 26 may also be referred to as a gateway access point (AP)wireless resource controller. The controller 26 can include, but is notlimited to, a central processing unit (CPU), a hardware microprocessor,a hardware processor, a multi-core processor, a single core processor, aFPGA, a microcontroller, an ASIC, a DSP, or other similar processingdevice capable of executing any type of instructions, algorithms, orsoftware including the software 25 for controlling the operation andfunctions of the gateway device 2 in accordance with the embodimentsdescribed in the present disclosure. Communication between thecomponents (e.g., 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26) of the gateway device 2 may beestablished using the internal bus 27. The controller 26 may also bereferred to as a processor, generally.

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram illustrating certain componentsof an exemplary gateway device and an exemplary wide area networkadaptor implemented in the system of FIG. 1, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 3, the gateway device 2 includes the network interface21, the WAN interface 23, the memory 24, and the controller (processor)26.

The network interface 21 includes an Ethernet port 203 (e.g., a wiredLAN interface), a 2.4 GHz radio 204, a 5 GHz radio 205, and a 6 GHzradio 206 (e.g., wireless LAN interfaces, or WLAN interfaces). Thegateway device 2 may communicate with the local area network devices(e.g., the wireless extenders 3, the client devices 4) of the system viaone or more of the Ethernet port 203, the 2.4 GHz radio 204, the 5 GHzradio 205, and/or the 6 GHz radio 206. The gateway device 2 maycommunicate with the wide area network devices (e.g., the WAN adaptor 5)via the 6 GHz radio 206. As mentioned above, according to aspects of thepresent disclosure, one radio or set of radios can provide a backhaul(BH) connection between the gateway device 2, the wireless extender(s) 3and the WAN adaptor 5, while another radio or set of radios can providea fronthaul (FH) connection between the gateway device 2 and the clientdevice(s) 4. However, the gateway device 2 may communicate with the LANdevices (e.g., the wireless extenders 3, the client devices 4) and/orthe WAN devices (e.g., the WAN adaptor 5) via a wired Ethernet portaccording to some alternative example embodiments.

The memory 24 includes a virtual interface function 250 and a virtualinterface table 240. The virtual interface function 250 may beimplemented as part of the instructions, algorithms, or softwareincluding the software 25 described above with reference to FIG. 2. Thevirtual interface table 300 may be a data structure storing variouspieces of data, such as service set identifiers (e.g., WAN SSID and LANSSID) and/or virtual tags (e.g., vWAN tag and vLAN tag) for use whenperforming operations in accordance with embodiments described in thepresent disclosure (e.g., including the virtual interface functionaccording to some example embodiments).

The controller 26 includes a processor that is configured to access thememory 24, perform the virtual interface function 250 (e.g., viaexecution of the software 25), and make determinations based on theinformation in virtual interface table 240. The controller 26 alsocontrols communications with the network devices (e.g., the wirelessextenders 3, the client devices 4, and the WAN adaptor 5) via theEthernet port 203, the 2.4 GHz radio 204, the 5 GHz radio 205, and/orthe 6 GHz radio 206 in accordance with embodiments described in thepresent disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 3, the WAN adaptor 5 includes the network interface 51,the WAN interface 53, the memory 54, and the controller 56.

The network interface 51 may include various network cards, andcircuitry implemented in software and/or hardware to enablecommunications with the gateway device 2 using the communicationprotocols in accordance with connection 7 (e.g., as described withreference to FIG. 1). For example, the network interface 51 can includea 6 GHz radio 506. The WAN adaptor 5 may communicate with the gatewaydevice 2 via the 6 GHz radio 506. As mentioned above, according toaspects of the present disclosure, the 6 GHz radio 506 can provide a 6GHz wireless backhaul (BH) connection between the WAN adaptor 5 and thegateway device 2. However, the WAN adaptor 5 may communicate with thegateway device 2 via a wired Ethernet port according to some alternativeexample embodiments.

The WAN interface 53 may include various network cards, and circuitryimplemented in software and/or hardware to enable communications betweenthe WAN adaptor 5 and the Internet 6 via the ISP 1 using thecommunication protocols in accordance with connection 13 (e.g., asdescribed with reference to FIG. 1). For example, the WAN interface 53can include an I/O port 501, which may provide a wired connection (e.g.,Ethernet, cable, fiber, or the like) between the WAN adaptor 5 and theISP 1 (e.g., via the ONT 16 as described with reference to FIG. 1). TheWAN adaptor 5 may also communicate with the file server 12 of the ISP 1via the WAN interface 53 (e.g., the wired connection of the I/O port501).

The memory 54 includes a single memory or one or more memories or memorylocations that include, but are not limited to, a RAM, a DRAM, a memorybuffer, a hard drive, a database, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a ROM, a flashmemory, logic blocks of a FPGA, hard disk or any other various layers ofmemory hierarchy. The memory 54 can be used to store any type ofinstructions, software, or algorithm for controlling the generalfunctions and operations of the WAN adaptor 5 in accordance with theembodiments described in the present disclosure.

The controller 56 includes a processor that is configured to access thememory 54 and control the general operations of the WAN adaptor 5. Thecontroller 56 can include, but is not limited to, a central processingunit (CPU), a hardware microprocessor, a hardware processor, amulti-core processor, a single core processor, a FPGA, amicrocontroller, an ASIC, a DSP, or other similar processing devicecapable of executing any type of instructions, algorithms, or softwarefor controlling the operation and functions of the WAN adaptor 5 inaccordance with the embodiments described in the present disclosure. Thecontroller 56 also controls communications with the gateway device 2 viathe network interface 51 (e.g., the 6 GHz radio 506) and with the ISP 1via the WAN interface 53 (e.g., the I/O port 501) in accordance withembodiments described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a 6 GHz Backhaul connection of a gateway devicewith a wireless extender and a WAN adaptor, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, the 6 GHz Backhaul connection enables traffic to becommunicated between a WAN (e.g., the Internet) and a LAN, or viceversa. The traffic between the WAN and the LAN goes through a routercomponent of the gateway device 2. The gateway device 2, which may alsobe referred to as a residential gateway (RG), broadband access device,or access point (AP), is an electronic apparatus that may be configuredfor various forms of network connectivity, including but not limited toEthernet (wired) and one or more Wi-Fi radios (wireless). For example,the gateway device 2 may include a 2.4 GHz radio, a 5 GHz radio, and a 6GHz radio. Each of the Ethernet, 2.4 GHz radio, and 5 GHz radio maycommunicate with the router via a respective LAN interface. However, the6 GHz radio may communicate with the router via either of a LANinterface and/or a WAN interface according to some example embodiments.Instead of having two separate 6 GHz radios (one for the LAN side andone for the WAN side), the solution according to example embodiments ofthe present disclosure involves configuring the gateway device 2 toimplement two virtual interfaces (or logical interfaces) over a singlephysical interface, such as a 6 GHz Wi-Fi radio, during an initial setupprocess. The virtual LAN interface can be associated with a first SSID(LAN SSID) and the virtual WAN interface can be associated with a secondSSID (WAN SSID), as will be discussed in detail below in connection withexample embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, the gateway device2 may include a single physical interface, such as the 6 GHz radio 206,that is “virtualized” so as to provide both a LAN interface and a WANinterface.

As shown in FIG. 4, the gateway device 2 may include multiple physicalinterfaces, such as an Ethernet port 203, a 2.4 GHz radio 204, a 5 GHzradio 205, and a 6 GHz radio 206, for example. The gateway device 2 mayalso include a router component that provides a packet forwardprocessing function for directing communications with other networkdevices. The Ethernet port 203 may be configured to provide a first LANinterface with the router of the gateway device 2, and may provide wiredconnectivity to the network devices (such as the wireless extenders 3and/or the client devices 4). The 2.4 GHz radio 204 and the 5 GHz radio205 may be configured to provide a second LAN interface and a third LANinterface with the router of the gateway device 2, respectively, and mayprovide wireless connectivity to network devices (e.g., client devices4) that are configured to operate in the 2.4 GHz and/or 5 GHz bands. The2.4 GHz Wi-Fi radio and the 5 GHz Wi-Fi radio may be single-bandantennas in some example embodiments. However, some other exampleembodiments are not limited thereto, and the Wi-Fi radios may bedual-band antennas (e.g., supporting both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, atdifferent times and/or at the same time) or tri-band antennas (e.g.,supporting a single 2.4 GHz band and two 5 GHz bands, such as a low bandand a high band).

According to example embodiments of the present disclosure, the 6 GHzradio 206 may be configured to provide both a fourth LAN interface and awide area network (WAN) interface with the router of the gateway device2, and provide wireless connectivity to network devices (e.g., wirelessextenders 3 and/or client devices 4) that are configured to operate inthe 6 GHz band (also referred to as ‘Wi-Fi 6E’ devices). The fourth LANinterface and the WAN interface may be configured as virtual interfacesprovided over a single physical connection (e.g., the 6 GHz radio 206).The virtual interfaces may also be referred to as logical interfaces. Avirtual LAN interface and a virtual WAN interface may be distinguishedfrom each other by using different service set identifiers or SSIDs(e.g., 6G-LAN and 6G-WAN, Wi-Fi 6E LAN and Wi-Fi 6E WAN,NetworkName-LAN-6 GHz and NetworkName-WAN-6 GHz, etc.), according toexample embodiments of the present disclosure. Each SSID is configuredto connect to either the WAN side of the gateway device 2 or the LANside of the gateway device 2. In contrast to the gateway device 2according to example embodiments of the present disclosure, the Wi-Firadio in currently existing RGs, GWs, and APs is always serving the LANside only (not the WAN side). Thus, the SSID is implicitly associatedwith the LAN side of the known RG, GW, or AP. That is, the related artincludes a LAN SSID only, whereas the gateway device 2 according toexample embodiments of the present disclosure also provides a WAN SSIDfor the WAN side of the gateway device 2 in order to enable certainaspects of inventive concepts disclosed herein. Additionally oralternatively, LAN side traffic and WAN side traffic associated with arespective virtual interface may be distinguished from each other usinga virtual tagging technique, similar to some virtual LAN (VLAN)technologies.

As shown in FIG. 4, the 6 GHz Backhaul connects the gateway device 2with the wireless extender 3 and the WAN adaptor 5 as a result of aninitial setup process. The wireless extenders 3 are Wi-Fi clients thatare configured to discover and associate to the LAN SSID and acquire anIP address from the gateway device 2. The gateway device 2 can acquirethe IP address for the wireless extenders 3 from the network (e.g., viaa DHCP server) according to known techniques, for example. The WANadaptor 5 is also a Wi-Fi client that is configured to discover andassociate to the WAN SSID, and serve as an intermediary (e.g., a “6 GHzto Ethernet Bridge”) between the LAN and the WAN. The WAN adaptor 5 mayhave a well-known, fixed IP address for management. Upon associationwith the wireless extender 3 and/or the WAN adaptor 5, a “link up” eventoccurs at the gateway device 2. The gateway device 2 can thus configurethe wireless extenders 3 to communicate with the gateway device 2 usingthe LAN SSID and configure the WAN adaptor 5 to communicate with thegateway device 2 using the WAN SSID. The gateway device 2 and the WANadaptor 5 may communicate with each other via the connection 7 (e.g.,described with reference to FIG. 1), and the gateway device 2 and thewireless extenders 3 may communicate with each other via the connection8 (e.g., described with reference to FIG. 1).

Details of a configuration phase and an input/output phase of a methodfor providing multiple virtual interfaces over a single physicalinterface may be found in co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 63/057,004, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. Such details are not discussed herein for brevity. However, itshould be appreciated that configuring and applying aspects of Qualityof Service (QoS) policies for the WAN side and the LAN side devicesdisclosed therein may be related to aspects of the optimized OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the WAN side and the LAN side devicesdisclosed herein.

As will be discussed in detail below in connection with FIGS. 5-8, amethod, apparatus, and computer-readable medium are provided foroptimized OFDMA subcarrier allocation. According to aspects of thepresent disclosure, the gateway device 2 can use traffic buffer status,and optionally various other scaling factors, to make the allocationdeterminations. The use of traffic buffer status for OFDMA subcarrierallocation is an effective means of addressing changing network trafficlevels between STAs (e.g., WAN adaptor 5, wireless extenders 3, and/orclient devices 4) and the RG 6 GHz AP (e.g., the gateway device 2), aswell as addressing changing traffic patterns between the WAN BSTA (e.g.,WAN adaptor 5) and the LAN BSTAs (e.g., the wireless extenders 3) andbetween intra-LAN STAs (e.g., the wireless extenders 3 and/or the clientdevices 4), in the example network environment shown in FIG. 1. Inparticular, buffer status for downlink traffic from the RG 6 GHz AP(e.g., associated to the BBSS of the gateway device 2) to the associatedSTAs (WAN side and LAN side) can be used to determine downlink OFDMAsubcarrier allocations. Likewise, buffer status for uplink traffic fromthe associated STAs (WAN side and LAN side) to the RG 6 GHz AP (e.g.,associated to the BBSS of the gateway device 2) can be used to determineuplink OFDMA subcarrier allocations.

General Solution (for Baseline Network or Expanded Network)

Referring again to FIG. 1, the gateway device 2 supports a backhaul witha single WAN side 6 GHz Bridge station (WAN BSTA) and a separatebackhaul to each of the LAN side wireless extenders 3 (LAN BSTA 1, 2, .. . , N), using the 6 GHz radio 206. These devices will be associated onthe 6 GHz Backhaul Basic Service Set (BBSS) of the gateway device 2. Ina baseline 6 GHz RG network configuration, the gateway device 2 maysupport one or more wireless extenders 3, and each of the wirelessextenders 3 may support one or more wireless client devices 4 (LANclient STA 1, 2, . . . , N). In an expanded 6 GHz RG networkconfiguration, the gateway device 2 may also directly support one ormore wireless client devices 4 associated on the Fronthaul Basic ServiceSet (FBSS) of the gateway device 2. In some example embodiments, thegateway device 2 may be configured to allow the client devices 4 toassociate on the 6 GHz FBSS of the gateway device 2. In this case, thegateway device 2 supports the WAN adaptor 5 (WAN BSTA) and the wirelessextenders 3 (LAN BSTAs 1, 2, . . . , N) on its 6 GHz BBSS and supportsthe client devices 4 (LAN client STAs 1, 2, . . . N) on its 6 GHz FBSS.However, in some other example embodiments, some of the wirelessextenders 3 and/or the client devices 4 may be restricted to associationon the 5 GHz FBSS or 2.4 GHz FBSS of the gateway device 2, such as maybe the case with legacy devices that are not equipped with 6 GHz radiosand IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) functionality. In yet some other exampleembodiments, the gateway device 2 may further support one or morewireless extenders 3 and/or one or more client devices 4 that areconnected to the gateway device 2 via a wired connection, such asEthernet, for example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a method for optimized OFDMAsubcarrier allocation according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Aspects of the present disclosure focus on the OFDMA subcarrierallocation needs for the exemplary baseline 6 GHz RG networkconfiguration (Baseline Network) of FIG. 1 discussed above. As shown inFIG. 5, the method for optimized OFDMA subcarrier allocation may involvevarious communications between the gateway device 2, the WAN adaptor 5(also referred to herein as WAN BSTA), and one or more wirelessextenders 3 (also referred to herein as LAN BSTAs 1, 2, . . . , N),according to some example embodiments (e.g., the baseline networkconfiguration of FIG. 1).

However, it will also be appreciated that the exemplary expanded 6 GHznetwork configuration (Expanded Network) of FIG. 1 discussed above canalso be accommodated if needed. As indicated by the dashed lines in FIG.5, the method may (optionally) also involve various communicationsbetween the gateway device 2 and one or more client devices 4 (alsoreferred to herein as LAN client STAs), according to some other exampleembodiments (e.g., the expanded network configuration of FIG. 1). Forexample, the gateway device 2 may also consider the downlink bufferstatus and the uplink buffer status (and optionally various otherscaling factors as well) associated with client devices 4 that areconfigured to establish a 6 GHz fronthaul connection with the gatewaydevice 2 using their 6 GHz radios and supporting IEEE 802.11axfunctionality (e.g., Wi-Fi 6E devices). However, in the case of legacyclient devices 4 (e.g., those having only 5 GHz and/or 2.4 GHz radiosand supporting the previous IEEE 802.11 standards (Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 4devices)), the gateway device 2 would not consider the legacy clientdevices in the OFDMA subcarrier allocation. Furthermore, the solutionsof the present disclosure may be extended to 802.11ax in general (e.g.,networks of devices having various combinations of 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz,and/or 6 GHz operation), as appropriate for a given networkimplementation.

The IEEE 802.11 standard requires AP buffer status information toinclude a total downlink buffered traffic load (rounded up by bytecount) at an AP targeted for a given STA. The AP buffer statusinformation also contains the access category (AC) of the highestpriority traffic remaining that is buffered at the AP (highest prioritybuffered AC subfield) for that STA. This status is defined in Section9.2.4.5.8 AP PS Buffer State subfield of the 2016 IEEE 802.11 standard.

Thus, referring again to FIG. 5, the gateway device 2 may determine APbuffer status information for downlink traffic that is queued at thegateway device 2 for transmission to the plurality of stations, at stepS1. The gateway device 2 may then perform OFDMA subcarrier allocationfor the downlink traffic from the gateway device 2 to the plurality ofstations, at step S2. The optional usage of the AC information in amodification of the General Solution of FIG. 5 will be discussed belowwith reference to Solution Option 2 of FIG. 7 as well as Solution Option4 discussed below.

The IEEE 802.11 standard additionally requires a Buffer Status Report(BSR) from STAs to their AP that conveys the total uplink bufferedtraffic load (rounded up byte count) at the STA targeted for the AP. TheBSR also contains the AC of the highest priority traffic remaining thatis buffered at the STA for the AP with an ACI high subfield, and theamount of buffered traffic for the ACI high indication (rounded up bytecount) for that STA. This status is defined in Section 9.2.4.6a.4 BSRControl of the IEEE 802.11ax D4 standard. It should be noted that BSRinformation is requested from STAs by APs in an 802.11ax Trigger frame.

Thus, referring again to FIG. 5, the gateway device 2 may additionallyreceive STA buffer status information for uplink traffic that is queuedat the STAs for transmission to the gateway device 2, from the WANadaptor 5 at step S3 and from the wireless extenders 3, at step S4. Inan optional step S5 (e.g., in the case of the expanded network of FIG.1), the gateway device may also receive STA buffer status informationfrom the client device 4 for uplink traffic that is queued at the clientdevice 4 for transmission to the gateway device 2. The gateway device 2may then perform OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic fromthe STAs to the gateway device 2, at step S6. The optional usage of theAC information in a modification of the General Solution of FIG. 5 willbe discussed below with reference to Solution Option 2 of FIG. 7 as wellas Solution Option 4 discussed below.

Finally, the gateway device 2 exchanges the downlink traffic and theuplink traffic with the WAN adaptor 5 according to the OFDMA subcarrierallocations at step S7 and with the wireless extenders 3 according tothe OFDMA subcarrier allocations at step S8. In an optional step S9(e.g., in the case of the expanded network of FIG. 1), the gatewaydevice also exchanges the downlink traffic and the uplink traffic withthe client device 4 according to the respective OFDMA subcarrierallocations.

It should be appreciated that the specific frequency of buffer statuscollection (downlink or uplink) for accompanying OFDMA subcarrierallocation is beyond the scope of the present disclosure. For example,the buffer status may be collected periodically based on a fixed oradjustable timer, may be collected dynamically on-demand as needed, maybe requested or transmitted in response to detecting changing networkconditions or traffic loads, the addition or removal of devices to/fromthe network, etc. The update time period may be longer for the WAN BSTA(WAN adaptor 5) and LAN STAs (wireless extenders 3), which have a moresteady link quality due to remaining stationary with respect to the APafter installation. On the other hand, the update time period may beshorter for LAN client STAs (client devices 4), which have greatervariability in link quality due to moving closer to or farther away fromthe AP over time as the user changes locations within the networkenvironment. Nonetheless, for the purposes of implementing exampleembodiments disclosed herein, it is assumed that buffer statuscollection is conducted quickly and often enough to allow OFDMAsubcarrier allocation determinations to be adequately responsive to thenetwork traffic changes. In any case, the chosen OFDMA subcarrierallocation may be fixed until the next adjustment (e.g., updatedfrequency-domain OFDMA subcarrier allocation scheduling).

Referring to FIGS. 6-8 below, an electronic apparatus that implements amethod for optimized subcarrier allocation may be the gateway device 2,according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.However, the method may be similarly implemented by a wireless extender3, or an access point (AP) generally in some other example embodiments.The electronic apparatus may be in communication with a plurality ofstations (STAs). In some example embodiments (e.g., the baselinenetwork), the plurality of STAs includes a WAN backhaul station (WANBSTA) such as the WAN adaptor 5 and one or more LAN backhaul stations(LAN BSTA(s)) such as the wireless extenders 3. In some other exampleembodiments (e.g., the expanded network), the plurality of STAs incommunication with the electronic apparatus further includes one or moreLAN side wireless client stations (LAN client STA(s)) such as the clientdevices 4.

Solution Option 1 for Baseline Network

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for optimized OFDMAsubcarrier allocation according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

According to Solution Option 1 of FIG. 6, the gateway device 2 uses theratio of total buffer status discussed above to determine the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the stations.

As shown in FIG. 6, a method for optimized OFDMA subcarrier allocationmay include determining a total downlink buffered traffic load fordownlink traffic to be transmitted from the gateway device 2 to each ofthe stations (e.g., the WAN BSTA such as a WAN adaptor 5, and one ormore LAN BSTA(s) such as wireless extender(s) 3), respectively, at stepS110. The method also includes receiving a total uplink buffered trafficload for uplink traffic to be transmitted from each of the stations(e.g., the WAN BSTA such as the WAN adaptor 5, and the one or more LANBSTA(s) such as the wireless extender(s) 3), respectively, to thegateway device 2, at step S120.

Then, the method includes determining a first ratio (or percentage) oftotal downlink buffered traffic load for each station, respectively, inrelation to total downlink buffered traffic load for all of the stationsin the wireless network, at step S130. In the case of AP downlinktraffic (from AP to associated STA), the available channel bandwidth canhave OFDMA subcarrier allocation assigned proportional to the ratio (R)of total traffic queued at the AP for each STA, according to thefollowing set of equations, for example:

$R_{\underset{\underset{{DL}\mspace{11mu}{TOT}}{BSTA}}{WAN}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}}}{Q_{\underset{DLTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu} R_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}}{Q_{\underset{DLTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{where}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{DLTOT}{STA}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}} + {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\; Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}}}}}$

where

$Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}}$

and

$Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}$

is the total downlink buffered traffic load for the LAN BSTA(i).

Similarly, the method includes determining a second ratio (orpercentage) of total uplink buffered traffic load for each station,respectively, in relation to total uplink buffered traffic load for allof the stations in the wireless network, at step S140. In the case of APuplink traffic (from associated STA to AP), the available channelbandwidth can have OFDMA subcarrier allocation assigned proportional tothe ratio (R) of total traffic queued at each STA for the AP, accordingto the following set of equations, for example:

$R_{\underset{\underset{{UL}\mspace{11mu}{TOT}}{BSTA}}{WAN}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}}}{Q_{\underset{ULTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu} R_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}}{Q_{\underset{ULTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{where}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{ULTOT}{STA}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}} + {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\; Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}}}}}$

where

$Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}}$

is the total uplink buffered traffic load for the WAN BSTA,

and

$Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}$

is the total uplink buffered traffic load for the LAN BSTA(i).

Finally, the method includes performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation forthe downlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidthproportional to the first ratio (or percentage) for each station,respectively, at step S150. Similarly, the method includes performingOFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic by assigningavailable channel bandwidth proportional to the second ratio (orpercentage) for each station, respectively, at step S160.

Once the first and second ratios or percentages are known for thedownlink traffic and the uplink traffic, these ratios can be used topick the closest set of OFDMA subchannel allocations (also referred toas Resource Units (RUs)) for the downlink traffic and the uplinktraffic, respectively, in order to meet the calculated percentageallocations. For example, Table 27-6 from IEEE 802.11ax D4 standardbelow shows the max number of RUs for each channel width:

TABLE 27-6 Maximum number of RUs for each channel width CBW80 + 80 RUtype CBW20 CBW40 CBW80 and CBW160  26-tone RU 9 18 37 74  52-tome RU 4 816 32 106-tone RU 2 4 8 16 242-tone RU 1 2 4 8 484-tone RU N/A 1 2 4996-tone RU N/A N/A 1 2 2 × 996 tone RU N/A N/A N/A 1

The above table may be stored in the memory 24 of the gateway device 2(e.g., as the Resource Units (RUs) Table 240) and may be accessed by theOFDMA Subcarrier Allocation Function 250 when the software 25 isexecuted by the controller 26 (e.g., processor) of the gateway device 2,as discussed above with reference to FIG. 3, for example. In some otherexample embodiments, the RUs Table 240 and the OFDMA SubcarrierAllocation Function 250 may be stored and used by other networkingdevices in the system, such as the wireless extenders 3 or Wi-Fi APsgenerally.

Consequently, as a non-limiting illustrative example, if the channelbandwidth was 80 MHz and it was determined from buffer status collectionthat the WAN BSTA (e.g., the WAN adaptor 5) had a 0.5 ratio (or 50%) ofthe total AP downlink buffered traffic load and the LAN BSTAs (e.g., afirst wireless extender 3 and a second wireless extender 3) each had a0.25 ratio (or 25%) of the total AP downlink buffered traffic load, a996-tone RU could be assigned for the WAN BSTA (WAN adaptor 5) and484-tone RUs assigned per LAN BSTA (wireless extenders 3), based on theinformation stored in the RUs Table 240. This allocation would applyuntil the next buffer status collection period, at which time thecalculation process would be repeated and the RUs would be reallocatedbased on the updated calculations. Similar examples may apply in thecase of the uplink traffic, and it should be appreciated that manydifferent example RU assignments are also possible in connection withthe downlink traffic and the uplink traffic (e.g., depending on a numberof LAN side devices such as wireless extenders 3 and client devices 4,various priorities associated with the downlink traffic and/or uplinktraffic of the LAN side devices, etc.). From Section 27.3.2.2 Resourceunit of IEEE 802.11ax D4 standard, guard and DC subcarriers of thestandard further defines the specific overhead for the subcarriers as afunction of the bandwidth options. This overhead can be furtheraccounted for in the OFDMA subcarrier allocations.

As indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 6, at some time aftercompleting steps S150 and S160 (e.g., a delay, a predeterminedcollection period, dynamically in response to changing networkconditions or the addition/removal of network devices, etc.), thegateway device 2 may loop back to steps S110 and S120, and repeat thedata collection and corresponding calculations and reallocate the OFDMAsubcarriers (RUs) to the STAs based on the updated results. As mentionedabove, the time period is assumed to be fast enough to allow the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation function to adequately respond to network trafficchanges, as may be needed or desired depending on the networkimplementation.

Note that as part of the OFDMA subchannel assignment, the frequencypositioning of the RU assignments within the available bandwidth shouldtake into account any STA interference conditions, as determined from aSTA bandwidth query report (BQR). The IEEE 802.11ax D4 standard definesbandwidth query report operation and information in Section 9.2.4.6a.6BQR Control. This information provides a bitmap indicating whichsubchannels are available at the STA based on the ED-based CCA (per 20MHz CCA sensitivity).

Although not explicitly discussed above in connection with FIG. 6, themethod of Solution Option 1 could also be applied in the context of theexpanded network of FIG. 1, in which one or more client devices 4 (e.g.,having a 6 GHz radio and equipped with 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) functionalityfor establishing a fronthaul connection with the gateway device 2) arealso included among the plurality of stations under consideration.

It should also be noted that the AC buffer status information mentionedabove is not included in Solution Option 1, but is included in SolutionOption 2 discussed below with reference to FIG. 7, as well as a hybridSolution Option 4 also discussed below.

Solution Option 2 for Baseline Network

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method for optimized OFDMAsubcarrier allocation according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

According to Solution Option 2 of FIG. 7, the gateway device 2 uses aratio of a mix of total buffer status discussed above, as well as ACbuffer status information, to determine the OFDMA subcarrier allocationfor the stations.

As shown in FIG. 7, a method for optimized OFDMA subcarrier allocationmay include determining an access category (AC) of a highest prioritydownlink traffic remaining at the gateway device 2 for transmission toeach of the stations (e.g., WAN BSTA such as the WAN adaptor 5, and LANBSTA(s) such as the wireless extender(s) 3), respectively, at step S210.The method further includes determining a downlink AC scale factorcorresponding to the AC of the highest priority downlink traffic foreach station, respectively, at step S215.

The method also includes receiving an access category (AC) of a highestpriority uplink traffic remaining at each station, respectively, fortransmission to the gateway device 2, and an uplink buffered trafficload for the highest priority uplink traffic, at step S220. The methodfurther includes determining an uplink AC scale factor corresponding tothe AC of the highest priority uplink traffic for each station,respectively, at step S225.

Then, the method includes determining a third ratio (or percentage) oftotal downlink buffered traffic load for each station multiplied by thedownlink AC scale factor for each station, respectively, in relation toan aggregate of prior downlink buffered traffic load values for all ofthe stations in the wireless network, at step S230. In the case of APdownlink traffic (from AP to associated STA), the available channelbandwidth can have OFDMA subcarrier allocation assigned proportional tothe ratio of total traffic queued at the AP for each STA along with ascaler multiple of available AC buffer status information, according tothe following set of equations, for example:

${R_{\underset{\underset{DL}{BSTA}}{WAN}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{DL}{BSTA}}{WAN}}}{Q_{\underset{DL}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu} R_{\underset{\underset{DL}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{DL}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}}{Q_{\underset{DL}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{where}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{\underset{DL}{BSTA}}{WAN}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}} \cdot {S_{AC}\left( {{wan}\mspace{14mu}{bsta}\mspace{14mu}{dl}{\mspace{11mu}\;}{highest}\mspace{14mu}{ac}} \right)}}}}},\mspace{14mu}{{{and}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{\underset{DL}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}} \cdot {S_{AC}\left( {{lan}\mspace{14mu}{{bsta}(i)}\mspace{14mu}{dl}\mspace{14mu}{highest}\mspace{14mu}{ac}} \right)}}},$

where Q_(DLTOT) _(BSTA) is the total downlink buffered traffic load forthe specified STA,

where S_(AC)(k) is a configurable scale factor based on the highestpriority AC=k traffic in the downlink buffer,

${{and}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{DL}{STA}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{DL}{BSTA}}{WAN}} + {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\;{Q_{\underset{\underset{DL}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}.}}}$

Similarly, the method includes determining a fourth ratio (orpercentage) of total uplink buffered traffic load for each station, plusthe uplink buffered traffic load for the highest priority uplink trafficmultiplied by the uplink AC scale factor for each station, respectively,in relation to an aggregate of prior uplink buffered traffic load valuesall of the stations in the wireless network, at step S240. In the caseof AP uplink traffic (from associated STA to AP), the available channelbandwidth can have OFDMA subcarrier allocation assigned proportional tothe ratio of total traffic queued at each STA for the AP along with ascaler multiple of available AC buffer status information, according tothe following set of equations, for example:

${R_{\underset{\underset{UL}{BSTA}}{WAN}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{UL}{BSTA}}{WAN}}}{Q_{\underset{UL}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu} R_{\underset{\underset{UL}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{UL}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}}{Q_{\underset{UL}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{where}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{\underset{UL}{BSTA}}{WAN}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}} + {Q_{\underset{\underset{{UL}\mspace{14mu}{AC}\mspace{14mu}{high}}{BSTA}}{WAN}} \cdot {S_{AC}\left( {{wan}\mspace{14mu}{bsta}\mspace{14mu}{ul}\mspace{14mu}{highest}\mspace{14mu}{ac}} \right)}}}}}},\mspace{14mu}{{{where}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{\underset{UL}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}} + {Q_{\underset{\underset{{UL}\mspace{11mu}{AC}\mspace{11mu}{high}}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{WAN}} \cdot {S_{AC}\left( {{lan}\mspace{14mu}{{bsta}(i)}\mspace{14mu}{ul}\mspace{14mu}{highest}\mspace{14mu}{ac}} \right)}}}},$

where Q_(ULTOT) _(BSTA) is the total uplink buffered traffic load forthe specified STA,

where S_(AC)(k) is a configurable scale factor based on the highestpriority AC=k traffic in the uplink buffer,

${{and}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{DL}{STA}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{DL}{BSTA}}{WAN}} + {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\;{Q_{\underset{\underset{DL}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}.}}}$

Finally, the method includes performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation forthe downlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidthproportional to the third ratio (or percentage) for each station,respectively (as weighted by the downlink scale factor of each of thestations), at step S250. Similarly, the method includes performing OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic by assigning availablechannel bandwidth proportional to the fourth ratio (or percentage) foreach station, respectively (as weighted by the uplink scale factor ofeach of the stations), at step S260.

Once the third and fourth ratios or percentages are known for thedownlink traffic and the uplink traffic, they can be used to pick theclosest set of OFDMA subchannel allocations (or RUs) for the downlinktraffic and the uplink traffic, respectively, in order to meet thepercentage allocations, in a similar manner as discussed above inconnection with Solution Option 1 of FIG. 6 (e.g., using Table 27-6 fromIEEE 802.11ax D4 standard shown above).

As indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 7, at some time aftercompleting steps S250 and S260 (e.g., a delay, a predeterminedcollection period, dynamically in response to changing networkconditions or the addition/removal of network devices, etc.), thegateway device 2 may loop back to steps S210 and S220, and repeat thedata collection and corresponding calculations and reallocate the OFDMAsubcarriers (RUs) to the STAs based on the updated results. As mentionedabove, the time period is assumed to be fast enough to allow the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation function to adequately respond to network trafficchanges, as may be needed or desired depending on the networkimplementation.

Although not explicitly discussed above in connection with FIG. 7, themethod of Solution Option 2 could also be applied in the context of theexpanded network of FIG. 1, in which one or more client devices 4 (e.g.,having a 6 GHz radio and equipped with 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) functionalityfor establishing a fronthaul connection with the gateway device 2) arealso included among the plurality of stations under consideration.

In addition to the above considerations, there may also be specialconsiderations that apply when one or more LAN client STA(s) (e.g.,mobile wireless client devices 4) are also being considered in theoptimized OFDMA subcarrier allocation, in addition to the WAN BSTA(e.g., WAN adaptor 5) and the one or more LAN BSTA(s) (e.g., thewireless extenders 3), as will be discussed below with reference to FIG.8.

Solution Option 3 for Expanded Network

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for optimized OFDMAsubcarrier allocation according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

It is assumed that the WAN BSTA (e.g., WAN adaptor 5) and the LAN BSTAs(e.g., the wireless extenders 3) are generally positioned for goodbackhaul link quality, and are generally not moved again after initialsetup of the network. By contrast, LAN client STAs (e.g., the clientdevices 4) generally have large variability in link quality over time,due to the fact that they are mobile devices and typically do not alwaysremain in the same fixed location. Consequently, if the LAN client STAs(e.g. the client devices 4) are also included in the OFDMA subcarrierallocation (such as for the Expanded 6 GHz RG network configurationdiscussed above), then modulation coding scheme (MCS) information of theLAN client STAs should also be considered in the OFDMA subcarrierallocation, along with the buffer status information. For example,considering the MCS information may serve to avoid giving too muchairtime to a LAN client STA which requires low MCS (poor link quality),such as when a client device 4 moves farther away from the AP (e.g., thegateway device 2).

According to Solution Option 3, the gateway device 2 uses the MCSinformation of the LAN client STA(s) (e.g., the client devices 4), inaddition to the buffer status information, to determine the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the stations. The following is a possibleapproach for downlink and uplink OFDMA subcarrier allocation, whichbuilds off Solution Option 1 discussed above with reference to FIG. 6 byadding client STA buffer size total and scaling their buffer size bytheir required MCS relative to a configurable base MCS, wherein the baseMCS is considered representative of good min-range link quality (whichmay be an intermediate value of 4 or 5, for example).

As shown in FIG. 8, a method for optimized OFDMA subcarrier allocationmay include determining a total downlink buffered traffic load fordownlink traffic to be transmitted from the gateway device 2 to each ofthe LAN client STA(s) (e.g., the client device(s) 4), respectively, atstep S310. In Solution Option 3 of FIG. 8, step S310 may be performed inaddition to step S110 discussed above with reference to Solution Option1 of FIG. 6, for example. The method also includes receiving a totaluplink buffered traffic load for uplink traffic to be transmitted fromeach of the LAN client STA(s) (e.g., the client device(s) 4),respectively, to the gateway device 2, at step S320. In Solution Option3 of FIG. 8, step S320 may be performed in addition to step S120discussed above with reference to Solution Option 1 of FIG. 6, forexample.

The method further includes determining a modulation and coding scheme(MCS) scale factor for each of the LAN client STA(s), as a ratio (orpercentage) of the MCS required by each of the LAN client STA(s) inrelation to a base MCS (e.g., representing the min-range link quality),respectively, at step S325.

Then, the method includes determining a fifth ratio (or percentage) ofthe total downlink buffered traffic load for the WAN BSTA, plus thetotal downlink buffered traffic load for the LAN BSTA(s), plus the totaldownlink buffered traffic load for the LAN client STA(s) multiplied bythe MCS scale factor of each LAN client STA, respectively, in relationto an aggregate of prior downlink buffered traffic load values for allof the stations in the wireless network, at step S330. In the case of APdownlink traffic (from AP to associated STA), the available channelbandwidth can have OFDMA subcarrier allocation assigned according to thefollowing set of equations:

${R_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}}}{Q_{\underset{DLTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{and}{\mspace{11mu}\;}R_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}}{Q_{\underset{DLTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu} R_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{CLIENT}\mspace{14mu}{STA}}}{LAN}}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{CLIENT}\mspace{11mu}{STA}}}{LAN}}}{Q_{\underset{DLTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{where}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{DLTOT}{STA}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}} + {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\; Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} + {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\;{Q_{\underset{\underset{DLTOT}{{CLIENT}\mspace{14mu}{{STA}{(i)}}}}{LAN}} \cdot {S_{MCS}\left( {{client}\mspace{14mu}{{sta}(i)}\mspace{14mu}{mcs}} \right)}}}}}}}},{{{and}\mspace{14mu}{S_{MCS}(i)}} = {\frac{{MIN}\left( {{{LAN}\mspace{14mu}{CLIENT}\mspace{14mu}(i)\mspace{14mu}{MCS}},\mspace{14mu}{{CONFIGURABLE}\mspace{14mu}{BASE}\mspace{14mu}{MCS}}} \right)}{{CONFIGURABLE}\mspace{14mu}{BASE}\mspace{14mu}{MCS}}.}}$

Similarly, the method includes determining a sixth ratio (or percentage)of the total uplink buffered traffic load for the WAN BSTA, plus thetotal uplink buffered traffic load for the LAN BSTA(s), plus the totaluplink buffered traffic load for the LAN client STA(s) multiplied by theMCS scale factor of each LAN client STA, respectively, in relation to anaggregate of prior uplink buffered traffic load values for all of thestations in the wireless network, at step S340. In the case of AP uplinktraffic (from associated STA to AP), the available channel bandwidth canhave OFDMA subcarrier allocation assigned according to the following setof equations:

${R_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}}}{Q_{\underset{ULTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{and}{\mspace{11mu}\;}R_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}}{Q_{\underset{ULTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu} R_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{CLIENT}\mspace{14mu}{STA}}}{LAN}}} = {{\frac{Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{CLIENT}\mspace{11mu}{STA}}}{LAN}}}{Q_{\underset{ULTOT}{STA}}}\mspace{14mu}{where}\mspace{14mu} Q_{\underset{ULTOT}{STA}}} = {Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{BSTA}}{WAN}} + {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\; Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{BSTA}{(i)}}}{LAN}}} + {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\;{Q_{\underset{\underset{ULTOT}{{CLIENT}\mspace{14mu}{{STA}{(i)}}}}{LAN}} \cdot {S_{MCS}\left( {{client}\mspace{14mu}{{sta}(i)}\mspace{14mu}{mcs}} \right)}}}}}}}},{{{and}\mspace{14mu}{S_{MCS}(i)}} = \frac{{MIN}\left( {{{LAN}\mspace{14mu}{CLIENT}\mspace{14mu}(i)\mspace{14mu}{MCS}},\mspace{14mu}{{CONFIGURABLE}\mspace{14mu}{BASE}\mspace{14mu}{MCS}}} \right)}{{CONFIGURABLE}\mspace{14mu}{BASE}\mspace{14mu}{MCS}}}$

Finally, the method includes performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation forthe downlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidthproportional to the fifth ratio (or percentage) for each station,respectively (as weighted by the MCS scale factor for each LAN clientSTA), at step S350. Similarly, the method includes performing OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic by assigning availablechannel bandwidth proportional to the sixth ratio (or percentage) foreach station, respectively (as weighted by the MCS scale factor for eachLAN client STA), at step S360.

Once the fifth and sixth ratios or percentages are known for thedownlink traffic and the uplink traffic, they can be used to pick theclosest set of OFDMA subchannel allocations (or RUs) for the downlinktraffic and the uplink traffic, respectively, in order to meet thepercentage allocations, in a similar manner as discussed above inconnection with Solution Option 1 of FIG. 6 (e.g., using Table 27-6 fromIEEE 802.11ax D4 standard shown above).

As indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 8, at some time aftercompleting steps S350 and S360 (e.g., a delay, a predeterminedcollection period, dynamically in response to changing networkconditions or the addition/removal of network devices, etc.), thegateway device 2 may loop back to steps S310 and S320, and repeat thedata collection and corresponding calculations and reallocate the OFDMAsubcarriers (RUs) to the STAs based on the updated results. As mentionedabove, the time period is assumed to be fast enough to allow the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation function to adequately respond to network trafficchanges, as may be needed or desired depending on the networkimplementation. For example, the time period may be relatively shorterfor the LAN client STAs (e.g., the mobile client devices 4), andrelatively longer for the WAN BSTA and the LAN BSTA(s) (e.g., the WANadaptor 5 and the wireless extenders 3, which typically remainstationary after installation in many cases).

In some additional example embodiments, a combination of the techniquesdiscussed above in connection with Solution Option 1 of FIG. 6 (bufferstatus), Solution Option 2 of FIG. 7 (AC scale factor), and SolutionOption 3 of FIG. 8 (MCS scale factor) may be used, as will be discussedbelow.

Solution Option 4 for Expanded Network

In some example embodiments, the one or more LAN client STAs (e.g., theclient devices 4) could also have the MCS scaling approach to OFDMAsubcarrier allocation discussed above with reference to FIG. 8 andSolution Option 3 also applied to the more extensive OFDMA subcarrierallocation approach that accounts for AC buffer status informationdiscussed above with reference to FIG. 7 and Solution Option 2.

According to Solution Option 4, the gateway device 2 uses a ratio of amix of total buffer status discussed above as well as AC buffer statusinformation and client MCS information to determine the OFDMA subcarrierallocation for the stations.

This combined approach involves an extensive set of equations whichbuild off those from Solution Option 2 of FIG. 7 by adding LAN clientSTA information with MCS scale factor from Solution Option 3 of FIG. 8.Equipped with the sets of equations and techniques disclosed above inconnection with Solution Option 2 of FIG. 7 and Solution Option 3 ofFIG. 8, a person of skill in the art would be able to devise a suitableset of modified equations that accounts for not only the buffer statusinformation of the plurality of STAs, but also the AC information of theplurality of STAs and the MCS information of the LAN client STAs,specifically.

Other Considerations

It should be noted that various other factors, such as target RSSI andMCS configuration that are used in triggered responses scheduling (TRS)information for uplink client transmission control, are outside thescope of the present disclosure and are not addressed herein. However,when accounted for there would be the added need to determine a set ofstations that can produce similar RSSI at the AP (e.g., the gatewaydevice 2) to be part of simultaneous uplink transmissions to the AP(with their own sub-carrier allocations). If client stations arestationary, this functionality can be more easily implemented by acontroller. On the other hand, this operation should be done in realtime (or in near real-time) for client stations that are mobile and maychange locations frequently.

It should also be appreciated that there are many other possiblesolutions for the cases of the baseline network and the expanded networkdiscussed above. A key aspect of all of the example solutions discussedabove with reference to FIGS. 5-8 is having a certain degree offlexibility in the solution options, including the frequency ofmeasurements and configurability of the scale factors (e.g., the ACscale factor of Solution Option 2 of FIG. 7 and Solution Option 4,and/or the MCS scale factor of Solution Option 3 of FIG. 8 and SolutionOption 4).

In addition, it is recognized that there may be some cases where not allclient stations can be supported for a given uplink or downlinktransmission, even when assigned the lowest MCS for the AP. For IEEE802.11ax uplink transmissions in particular, an AP must receive signalsfrom different STAs at similar power levels. To support this, 802.11axdefines a power pre-correction mechanism where the AP indicates inTrigger frame its current transmit power and the target signal strengththat the AP is expected to receive from a STA in a following uplinktransmission. Using the AP's transmit power and the signal strength of areceived Trigger frame, a STA can then estimate the path loss to the APand calculate an appropriate transmit power for the following uplinktransmission. Since the AP selects the MCS for the uplink transmissions,each STA also includes information about its uplink power headroom(i.e., the difference between its maximum power and its current transmitpower for the assigned MCS). This is defined in Section 9.2.4.6a.5 UPHControl of IEEE 802.11ax D4 standard. Although this is not explicitlyaddressed herein, such cases are not excluded from the approachesdiscussed above with reference to FIGS. 5-8 and this could also befactored into any OFDMA subcarrier allocation (e.g., by appropriatemodification of example embodiments disclosed above by a person of skillin the art).

As discussed above, the method for optimized OFDMA subcarrier allocationcan be used to ensure that devices in the network receive a needed ordesired level of QoS, by allocating bandwidth based on loadingconditions (e.g., the buffer status information) and optionally based onvarious other scaling factors as well (e.g., relating to the ACinformation and/or the MCS information). The techniques discussed abovecan ensure efficient and proportional allocation of bandwidth todifferent devices in the network. In addition, the bandwidth may beperiodically and/or dynamically re-allocated based on timers, changingnetwork traffic conditions, addition/removal of wireless extendersand/or client devices, or the like.

Although the methods of FIGS. 5-8 are discussed in connection with thegateway device 2 according to some example embodiments, the methodscould similarly be performed by a wireless extender 3, a Wi-Fi accesspoint (AP) generally, and/or other similar Wi-Fi networking devicesaccording to some other example embodiments. The gateway device 2 may beprogrammed with instructions (e.g., controller instructions) to performthe OFDMA subcarrier allocation function in some example embodiments, ormay use its native software in some other example embodiments.Additionally or alternatively, some aspects of example embodiments ofthe present disclosure may be implemented via Wi-Fi firmware of thegateway device 2, the wireless extenders 3, a Wi-Fi AP, or the like. Insome example embodiments, application programming interfaces (APIs) maybe utilized to determine the ratios (or percentages) for the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation function based on traffic buffer status for bothdownlink traffic and uplink traffic, respectively. In FIGS. 5-8, it isassumed that the devices include their respective controllers orprocessors and their respective software stored in their respectivememories, as discussed above in connection with FIGS. 2-3, which whenexecuted by their respective controllers or processors perform thefunctions and operations in accordance with the example embodiments ofthe present disclosure (e.g., including performing an OFDMA subcarrierallocation function).

Each of the elements of the present invention may be configured byimplementing dedicated hardware or a software program on a memorycontrolling a processor to perform the functions of any of thecomponents or combinations thereof. Any of the components may beimplemented as a CPU or other processor reading and executing a softwareprogram from a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductormemory, for example. The processes disclosed above constitute examplesof algorithms that can be affected by software, applications (apps, ormobile apps), or computer programs. The software, applications, computerprograms or algorithms can be stored on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium for instructing a computer, such as a processorin an electronic apparatus, to execute the methods or algorithmsdescribed herein and shown in the drawing figures. The software andcomputer programs, which can also be referred to as programs,applications, components, or code, include machine instructions for aprogrammable processor, and can be implemented in a high-levelprocedural language, an object-oriented programming language, afunctional programming language, a logical programming language, or anassembly language or machine language.

The term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” refers to anycomputer program product, apparatus or device, such as a magnetic disk,optical disk, solid-state storage device (SSD), memory, and programmablelogic devices (PLDs), used to provide machine instructions or data to aprogrammable data processor, including a computer-readable medium thatreceives machine instructions as a computer-readable signal. By way ofexample, a computer-readable medium can comprise DRAM, RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carryor store desired computer-readable program code in the form ofinstructions or data structures and that can be accessed by ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose orspecial-purpose processor. Disk or disc, as used herein, includescompact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc(DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc. Combinations of the above are alsoincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

The word “comprise” or a derivative thereof, when used in a claim, isused in a nonexclusive sense that is not intended to exclude thepresence of other elements or steps in a claimed structure or method. Asused in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow,“a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural references unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein andthroughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and“on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Use of the phrases“capable of,” “configured to,” or “operable to” in one or moreembodiments refers to some apparatus, logic, hardware, and/or elementdesigned in such a way to enable use thereof in a specified manner.

While the principles of the inventive concepts have been described abovein connection with specific devices, apparatuses, systems, algorithms,programs and/or methods, it is to be clearly understood that thisdescription is made only by way of example and not as limitation. Theabove description illustrates various example embodiments along withexamples of how aspects of particular embodiments may be implemented andare presented to illustrate the flexibility and advantages of particularembodiments as defined by the following claims, and should not be deemedto be the only embodiments. One of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that based on the above disclosure and the following claims,other arrangements, embodiments, implementations and equivalents may beemployed without departing from the scope hereof as defined by theclaims. It is contemplated that the implementation of the components andfunctions of the present disclosure can be done with any newly arisingtechnology that may replace any of the above-implemented technologies.Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modificationsare intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) thatmay cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is definedsolely by the appended claims including any amendments made during thependency of this application and all equivalents of those claims asissued.

What we claim is:
 1. A gateway device capable of orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access (OFDMA) subcarrier allocation for stations in awireless network, the gateway device comprising: a memory storinginstructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions tocause the gateway device to: establish wireless backhaul connectionswith a wide area network backhaul station (WAN BSTA) and one or morelocal area network backhaul stations (LAN BSTAs), among the stations inthe wireless network; determine a total downlink buffered traffic loadfor downlink traffic from the gateway device to each of the WAN BSTA andthe one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively; receive, from the WAN BSTA andthe one or more LAN BSTAs, a total uplink buffered traffic load foruplink traffic from each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, to the gateway device; determine a first ratio of thetotal downlink buffered traffic load for each of the WAN BSTA and theone or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relation to a total downlinkbuffered traffic load for all of the stations in the wireless network;determine a second ratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load foreach of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, inrelation to a total uplink buffered traffic load for all of the stationsin the wireless network; perform OFDMA subcarrier allocation for thedownlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportionalto the first ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LANBSTAs, respectively; and perform OFDMA subcarrier allocation for theuplink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional tothe second ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively.
 2. The gateway device of claim 1, wherein the processor isfurther configured to execute the instructions to cause the gatewaydevice to: determine an access category (AC) of a highest prioritydownlink traffic remaining at the gateway device for transmission toeach of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively;receive, from the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, an accesscategory (AC) of a highest priority uplink traffic remaining at each ofthe WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, fortransmission to the gateway device, and an uplink buffered traffic loadfor the highest priority uplink traffic; and determine a downlink ACscale factor corresponding to the AC of the highest priority downlinktraffic for each of the WAN B STA and the one or more LAN B STAB,respectively; determine an uplink AC scale factor corresponding to theAC of the highest priority uplink traffic for each of the WAN BSTA andthe one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively; determine a third ratio of thetotal downlink buffered traffic load for each of the WAN BSTA and theone or more LAN BSTAs multiplied by the downlink AC scale factor for thehighest priority downlink traffic for each of the WAN BSTA and the oneor more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relation to an aggregate of priordownlink buffered traffic load values for all of the stations in thewireless network; determine a fourth ratio of the total uplink bufferedtraffic load for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,plus the uplink buffered traffic load for the highest priority uplinktraffic for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAsmultiplied by the uplink AC scale factor of each of the WAN BSTA and theone or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relation to an aggregate ofprior uplink buffered traffic load values for all of the stations in thewireless network; perform the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for thedownlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportionalto the third ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LANBSTAs, respectively; and perform the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for theuplink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional tothe fourth ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively.
 3. The gateway device of claim 1, wherein the processor isfurther configured to execute the instructions to cause the gatewaydevice to: establish a wireless fronthaul connection with one or moreLAN side client stations (LAN client STAs), among the stations in thewireless network; determine a total downlink buffered traffic load fordownlink traffic from the gateway device to each of the one or more LANclient STAs, respectively; receive, from the one or more LAN clientSTAs, a total uplink buffered traffic load for uplink traffic from eachof the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, to the gateway device;determine a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) scale factor for each ofthe one or more LAN client STAs, the MCS scale factor being a ratio ofMCS that is required by each of the one or more LAN client STAs inrelation to a base MCS representing a min-range link quality,respectively; determine a fifth ratio of the total downlink bufferedtraffic load for the WAN B STA, plus the total downlink buffered trafficload of the one or more LAN B STAs, plus the total downlink bufferedtraffic load of the one or more LAN client STAs multiplied by the MCSscaling factor of each of the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively,in relation to an aggregate of prior downlink buffered traffic loadvalues for all of the stations in the wireless network; determine asixth ratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load for the WAN BSTA,the total uplink buffered traffic load for the one or more LAN BSTAs,and the total uplink buffered traffic load for the one or more LANclient STAs multiplied by the MCS scaling factor of each of the one ormore LAN client STAs, respectively, in relation to an aggregate of prioruplink buffered traffic load values for all of the stations in thewireless network; perform the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for thedownlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportionalto the fifth ratio for each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN B STAs,and the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively; and perform the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic by assigning availablechannel bandwidth proportional to the sixth ratio for each of the WANBSTA, the one or more LAN B STAs, and the one or more LAN client STAs,respectively.
 4. The gateway device of claim 1, wherein the processor isfurther configured to execute the instructions to cause the gatewaydevice to: determine an access category (AC) of a highest prioritydownlink traffic remaining at the gateway device for transmission toeach of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively;receive, from the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, an accesscategory (AC) of a highest priority uplink traffic remaining at each ofthe WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, fortransmission to the gateway device, and an uplink buffered traffic loadfor the highest priority uplink traffic; establish a wireless fronthaulconnection with one or more LAN side client stations (LAN client STAs),among the stations in the wireless network; determine a total downlinkbuffered traffic load for downlink traffic from the gateway device toeach of the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, and an AC of ahighest priority downlink traffic remaining at the gateway device fortransmission to each of the LAN client STAs, respectively; receive, fromthe one or more LAN client STAs, a total uplink buffered traffic loadfor uplink traffic from each of the one or more LAN client STAs,respectively, to the gateway device, an AC of a highest priority uplinktraffic remaining at the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, fortransmission to the gateway device, and an uplink buffered traffic loadfor the highest priority uplink traffic; determine a downlink AC scalefactor corresponding to the AC of the highest priority downlink trafficfor each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or moreLAN client STAs, respectively; determine an uplink AC scale factorcorresponding to the AC of the highest priority uplink traffic for eachof the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LANclient STAs, respectively; determine a modulation and coding scheme(MCS) scale factor for each of the one or more LAN client STAs, the MCSscale factor being a ratio of MCS that is required by each of the one ormore LAN client STAs in relation to a base MCS representing a min-rangelink quality, respectively; perform the OFDMA subcarrier allocation forthe downlink traffic based on the total downlink buffered traffic loadand the downlink AC scale factor for each of the WAN B STA, the one ormore LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, andfurther based on the MCS scale factor for each of the one or more LANclient STAs; and perform the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplinktraffic based on the total uplink buffered traffic load and the uplinkAC scale factor for each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, andthe one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, and further based on theMCS scale factor for each of the one or more LAN client STAs.
 5. Thegateway device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured toexecute the instructions to cause the gateway device to perform theOFDMA subcarrier allocation for the downlink traffic and the uplinktraffic by: referring to a table stored in the memory of the gatewaydevice, wherein the table indicates a maximum number of resource units(RUs) for each channel width; selecting a closest set of RUs from thetable for the downlink traffic based on the first ratio of the totaldownlink buffered traffic load for each of the stations, respectively;and selecting a closest set of RUs from the table for the uplink trafficbased on the second ratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load foreach of the stations, respectively.
 6. The gateway device of claim 5,wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructionsto cause the gateway device to: periodically or dynamically determine anupdated buffer status for the downlink traffic for the stations;periodically or dynamically receive, from the stations, an updatedbuffer status for the uplink traffic for the gateway device; determinean updated ratio of the total downlink buffered traffic load for each ofthe stations; determine an updated ratio of the total uplink bufferedtraffic load for each of the stations; perform OFDMA subcarrierallocation for the downlink traffic by reallocating RUs of the availablechannel bandwidth based on the updated ratio of the total downlinkbuffered traffic load for each of the stations; and perform OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic by reallocating RUs of theavailable channel bandwidth based on the updated ratio of the totaluplink buffered traffic load for each of the stations.
 7. A method oforthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) subcarrierallocation for stations in a wireless network, the method comprising:establishing, by a gateway device, wireless backhaul connections with awide area network backhaul station (WAN BSTA) and one or more local areanetwork backhaul stations (LAN BSTAs), among the stations in thewireless network; determining a total downlink buffered traffic load fordownlink traffic from the gateway device to each of the WAN BSTA and theone or more LAN BSTAs, respectively; receiving, from the WAN BSTA andthe one or more LAN BSTAs, a total uplink buffered traffic load foruplink traffic from each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, to the gateway device; determining a first ratio of thetotal downlink buffered traffic load for each of the WAN BSTA and theone or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relation to a total downlinkbuffered traffic load for all of the stations in the wireless network;determining a second ratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load foreach of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, inrelation to a total uplink buffered traffic load for all of the stationsin the wireless network; performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation for thedownlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportionalto the first ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAB, respectively; and performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation for theuplink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional tothe second ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: determiningan access category (AC) of a highest priority downlink traffic remainingat the gateway device for transmission to each of the WAN BSTA and theone or more LAN BSTAs, respectively; receiving, from the WAN BSTA andthe one or more LAN BSTAs, an access category (AC) of a highest priorityuplink traffic remaining at each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LANBSTAs, respectively, for transmission to the gateway device, and anuplink buffered traffic load for the highest priority uplink traffic;and determining a downlink AC scale factor corresponding to the AC ofthe highest priority downlink traffic for each of the WAN B STA and theone or more LAN B STAB, respectively; determining an uplink AC scalefactor corresponding to the AC of the highest priority uplink trafficfor each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively;determining a third ratio of the total downlink buffered traffic loadfor each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs multiplied by thedownlink AC scale factor for the highest priority downlink traffic foreach of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, inrelation to an aggregate of prior downlink buffered traffic load valuesfor all of the stations in the wireless network; determining a fourthratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load for each of the WAN BSTAand the one or more LAN BSTAs, plus the uplink buffered traffic load forthe highest priority uplink traffic multiplied by the uplink AC scalefactor of each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, in relation to an aggregate of prior uplink bufferedtraffic load values for all of the stations in the wireless network;performing the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the downlink traffic byassigning available channel bandwidth proportional to the third ratiofor each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively;and performing the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic byassigning available channel bandwidth proportional to the fourth ratiofor each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively. 9.The method of claim 7, further comprising: establishing a wirelessfronthaul connection with one or more LAN side client stations (LANclient STAs), among the stations in the wireless network; determining atotal downlink buffered traffic load for downlink traffic from thegateway device to each of the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively;receiving, from the one or more LAN client STAs, a total uplink bufferedtraffic load for uplink traffic from each of the one or more LAN clientSTAs, respectively, to the gateway device; determining a modulation andcoding scheme (MCS) scale factor for each of the one or more LAN clientSTAs, the MCS scale factor being a ratio of MCS that is required by eachof the one or more LAN client STAs in relation to a base MCSrepresenting a min-range link quality, respectively; determining a fifthratio of the total downlink buffered traffic load for the WAN BSTA, plusthe total downlink buffered traffic load of the one or more LAN B STAs,plus the total downlink buffered traffic load of the one or more LANclient STAs multiplied by the MCS scaling factor of each of the one ormore LAN client STAs, respectively, in relation to an aggregate of priordownlink buffered traffic load values for all of the stations in thewireless network; determining a sixth ratio of the total uplink bufferedtraffic load for the WAN B STA, the total uplink buffered traffic loadfor the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the total uplink buffered trafficload for the one or more LAN client STAs multiplied by the MCS scalingfactor of each of the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, inrelation to an aggregate of prior uplink buffered traffic load valuesfor all of the stations in the wireless network; performing the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the downlink traffic by assigning availablechannel bandwidth proportional to the fifth ratio for each of the WANBSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LAN client STAs,respectively; and performing the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for theuplink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional tothe sixth ratio for each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN B STAs,and the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively.
 10. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising: determining an access category (AC) of ahighest priority downlink traffic remaining at the gateway device fortransmission to each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively; receiving, from the WAN BSTA and the one or more LANBSTAs, an access category (AC) of a highest priority uplink trafficremaining at each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, for transmission to the gateway device, and an uplinkbuffered traffic load for the highest priority uplink traffic; andestablishing a wireless fronthaul connection with one or more LAN sideclient stations (LAN client STAs), among the stations in the wirelessnetwork; determining a total downlink buffered traffic load for downlinktraffic from the gateway device to each of the one or more LAN clientSTAs, respectively, and an AC of a highest priority downlink trafficremaining at the gateway device for transmission to each of the LANclient STAs, respectively; receiving, from the one or more LAN clientSTAs, a total uplink buffered traffic load for uplink traffic from eachof the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, to the gateway device,and an AC of a highest priority uplink traffic remaining at each of theone or more LAN client STAs, respectively, for transmission to thegateway device, and an uplink buffered traffic load for the highestpriority uplink traffic; determining a downlink AC scale factorcorresponding to the AC of the highest priority downlink traffic foreach of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LANclient STAs, respectively; determining an uplink AC scale factorcorresponding to the AC of the highest priority uplink traffic for eachof the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LANclient STAs, respectively; determining a modulation and coding scheme(MCS) scale factor for each of the one or more LAN client STAs, the MCSscale factor being a ratio of MCS that is required by each of the one ormore LAN client STAs in relation to a base MCS representing a min-rangelink quality, respectively; performing the OFDMA subcarrier allocationfor the downlink traffic based on the total downlink buffered trafficload and the downlink AC scale factor for each of the WAN B STA, the oneor more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively,and further based on the MCS scale factor for each of the one or moreLAN client STAs; and performing the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for theuplink traffic based on the total uplink buffered traffic load and theuplink AC scale factor for each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LANBSTAs, and the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, and furtherbased on the MCS scale factor for each of the one or more LAN clientSTAs.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein performing the OFDMA subcarrierallocation for the downlink traffic and the uplink traffic includes:referring to a table stored in the memory of the gateway device, whereinthe table indicates a maximum number of resource units (RUs) for eachchannel width; selecting a closest set of RUs from the table for thedownlink traffic based on the first ratio of the total downlink bufferedtraffic load for each of the stations, respectively; and selecting aclosest set of RUs from the table for the uplink traffic based on thesecond ratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load for each of thestations, respectively.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:periodically or dynamically determining an updated buffer status for thedownlink traffic for the stations; periodically or dynamicallyreceiving, from the stations, an updated buffer status for the uplinktraffic for the gateway device; determining an updated ratio of thetotal downlink buffered traffic load for each of the stations;determining an updated ratio of the total uplink buffered traffic loadfor each of the stations; performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation for thedownlink traffic by reallocating RUs of the available channel bandwidthbased on the updated ratio of the total downlink buffered traffic loadfor each of the stations; and performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation forthe uplink traffic by reallocating RUs of the available channelbandwidth based on the updated ratio of the total uplink bufferedtraffic load for each of the stations.
 13. One or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media storing instructions for orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access (OFDMA) subcarrier allocation for stations in awireless network, the instructions when executed by a processor of agateway device causing the gateway device to perform operationscomprising: establishing wireless backhaul connections with a wide areanetwork backhaul station (WAN BSTA) and one or more local area networkbackhaul stations (LAN BSTAs), among the stations in the wirelessnetwork; determining a total downlink buffered traffic load for downlinktraffic from the gateway device to each of the WAN BSTA and the one ormore LAN BSTAs, respectively; receiving, from the WAN BSTA and the oneor more LAN BSTAs, a total uplink buffered traffic load for uplinktraffic from each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, to the gateway device; determining a first ratio of thetotal downlink buffered traffic load for each of the WAN BSTA and theone or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relation to a total downlinkbuffered traffic load for all of the stations in the wireless network;determining a second ratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load foreach of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, inrelation to a total uplink buffered traffic load for all of the stationsin the wireless network; performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation for thedownlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportionalto the first ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LANBSTAs, respectively; and performing OFDMA subcarrier allocation for theuplink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportional tothe second ratio for each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively.
 14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediaof claim 13, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor ofthe gateway device cause the gateway device to perform operationsfurther comprising: determining an access category (AC) of a highestpriority downlink traffic remaining at the gateway device fortransmission to each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively; receiving, from the WAN BSTA and the one or more LANBSTAs, an access category (AC) of a highest priority uplink trafficremaining at each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, for transmission to the gateway device, and an uplinkbuffered traffic load for the highest priority uplink traffic; anddetermining a downlink AC scale factor corresponding to the AC of thehighest priority downlink traffic for each of the WAN B STA and the oneor more LAN BSTAs, respectively; determining an uplink AC scale factorcorresponding to the AC of the highest priority uplink traffic for eachof the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively; determininga third ratio of the total downlink buffered traffic load for each ofthe WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs multiplied by the downlink ACscale factor for the highest priority downlink traffic for each of theWAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relation to anaggregate of prior downlink buffered traffic load values for all of thestations in the wireless network; determining a fourth ratio of thetotal uplink buffered traffic load for each of the WAN BSTA and the oneor more LAN BSTAs, plus the uplink buffered traffic load for the highestpriority uplink traffic multiplied by the uplink AC scale factor of eachof the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively, in relationto an aggregate of prior uplink buffered traffic load values for all ofthe stations in the wireless network; performing the OFDMA subcarrierallocation for the downlink traffic by assigning available channelbandwidth proportional to the third ratio for each of the WAN BSTA andthe one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively; and performing the OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic by assigning availablechannel bandwidth proportional to the fourth ratio for each of the WANBSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs, respectively.
 15. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein theinstructions when executed by the processor of the gateway device causethe gateway device to perform operations further comprising:establishing a wireless fronthaul connection with one or more LAN sideclient stations (LAN client STAs), among the stations in the wirelessnetwork; determining a total downlink buffered traffic load for downlinktraffic from the gateway device to each of the one or more LAN clientSTAs, respectively; receiving, from the one or more LAN client STAs, atotal uplink buffered traffic load for uplink traffic from each of theone or more LAN client STAs, respectively, to the gateway device;determining a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) scale factor for eachof the one or more LAN client STAs, the MCS scale factor being a ratioof MCS that is required by each of the one or more LAN client STAs inrelation to a base MCS representing a min-range link quality,respectively; determining a fifth ratio of the total downlink bufferedtraffic load for the WAN BSTA, plus the total downlink buffered trafficload of the one or more LAN B STAs, plus the total downlink bufferedtraffic load of the one or more LAN client STAs multiplied by the MCSscaling factor of each of the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively,in relation to an aggregate of prior downlink buffered traffic loadvalues for all of the stations in the wireless network; determining asixth ratio of the total uplink buffered traffic load for the WAN B STA,the total uplink buffered traffic load for the one or more LAN BSTAs,and the total uplink buffered traffic load for the one or more LANclient STAs multiplied by the MCS scaling factor of each of the one ormore LAN client STAs, respectively, in relation to an aggregate of prioruplink buffered traffic load values for all of the stations in thewireless network; performing the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for thedownlink traffic by assigning available channel bandwidth proportionalto the fifth ratio for each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs,and the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively; and performing theOFDMA subcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic by assigningavailable channel bandwidth proportional to the sixth ratio for each ofthe WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN B STAs, and the one or more LAN clientSTAs, respectively.
 16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of claim 13, wherein the instructions when executed by theprocessor of the gateway device cause the gateway device to performoperations further comprising: determining an access category (AC) of ahighest priority downlink traffic remaining at the gateway device fortransmission to each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively; receiving, from the WAN BSTA and the one or more LANBSTAs, an access category (AC) of a highest priority uplink trafficremaining at each of the WAN BSTA and the one or more LAN BSTAs,respectively, for transmission to the gateway device, and an uplinkbuffered traffic load for the highest priority uplink traffic; andestablishing a wireless fronthaul connection with one or more LAN sideclient stations (LAN client STAs), among the stations in the wirelessnetwork; determining a total downlink buffered traffic load for downlinktraffic from the gateway device to each of the one or more LAN clientSTAs, respectively, and an AC of a highest priority downlink trafficremaining at the gateway device for transmission to each of the LANclient STAs, respectively; receiving, from the one or more LAN clientSTAs, a total uplink buffered traffic load for uplink traffic from eachof the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, to the gateway device,and an AC of a highest priority uplink traffic remaining at each of theone or more LAN client STAs, respectively, for transmission to thegateway device, and an uplink buffered traffic load for the highestpriority uplink traffic; determining a downlink AC scale factorcorresponding to the AC of the highest priority downlink traffic foreach of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LANclient STAs, respectively; determining an uplink AC scale factorcorresponding to the AC of the highest priority uplink traffic for eachof the WAN BSTA, the one or more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LANclient STAs, respectively; determining a modulation and coding scheme(MCS) scale factor for each of the one or more LAN client STAs, the MCSscale factor being a ratio of MCS that is required by each of the one ormore LAN client STAs in relation to a base MCS representing a min-rangelink quality, respectively; performing the OFDMA subcarrier allocationfor the downlink traffic based on the total downlink buffered trafficload and the downlink AC scale factor for each of the WAN B STA, the oneor more LAN BSTAs, and the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively,and further based on the MCS scale factor for each of the one or moreLAN client STAs; and performing the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for theuplink traffic based on the total uplink buffered traffic load and theuplink AC scale factor for each of the WAN BSTA, the one or more LANBSTAs, and the one or more LAN client STAs, respectively, and furtherbased on the MCS scale factor for each of the one or more LAN clientSTAs.
 17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media ofclaim 13, wherein performing the OFDMA subcarrier allocation for thedownlink traffic and the uplink traffic includes: referring to a tablestored in the memory of the gateway device, wherein the table indicatesa maximum number of resource units (RUs) for each channel width;selecting a closest set of RUs from the table for the downlink trafficbased on the first ratio of the total downlink buffered traffic load foreach of the stations, respectively; and selecting a closest set of RUsfrom the table for the uplink traffic based on the second ratio of thetotal uplink buffered traffic load for each of the stations,respectively.
 18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediaof claim 17, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor ofthe gateway device cause the gateway device to perform operationsfurther comprising: periodically or dynamically determining an updatedbuffer status for the downlink traffic for the stations; periodically ordynamically receiving, from the stations, an updated buffer status forthe uplink traffic for the gateway device; and determining an updatedratio of the total downlink buffered traffic load for each of thestations; determining an updated ratio of the total uplink bufferedtraffic load for each of the stations; performing OFDMA subcarrierallocation for the downlink traffic by reallocating RUs of the availablechannel bandwidth based on the updated ratio of the total downlinkbuffered traffic load for each of the stations; and performing OFDMAsubcarrier allocation for the uplink traffic by reallocating RUs of theavailable channel bandwidth based on the updated ratio of the totaluplink buffered traffic load for each of the stations.